Goats in high demand in the west as a means of fire prevention

[LonePirate]

Link to tweet

Reuters @Reuters
WATCH: As historic heat waves and drought pummel California and the U.S. West, goats are in high demand. They clear flammable dead grass and establish a natural buffer

[pwb]

1. Good for the goats.

They are givers.

[Hotler]

2. Many towns here in Colorado use goats. Denver uses them along the bike paths.

they even chew down the thistle.

[niyad]

6. Even here in the Springs, goats are used for weed mitigation. They have become a tourist

attraction.

[mopinko]

3. i seriously want a couple little goats.

cashmere goats.

i could get a lot done w chicken tunnels. but my big goofball house bear would love a playmate.

[Hotler]

18. I'd like a couple of pygmy goats, bounce, bounce, bounce.

I bet they're a handful.

[Demovictory9]

22. they are cute

[Marrah_Goodman]

26. I really really wanted goats

When I moved in with my friend in the country I thought GREAT! She had even had goats in the past. Then she told me all the stories about how destructive they can be.....so I decided they are better off with someone who had way more time and money then myself 😄 I will admire them at other people's farms!

[PlanetBev]

4. We just had our annual goat herds out here in Thousand Oaks

Unfortunately, there’s no new growth this year from lack of rain so the goats had very little to munch on.

[kimbutgar]

5. The have goats annually here in June clearing an area where I live in San Francisco

But this year they didn't come because not as many weeds and I suspect they’re being used elsewhere. I actually thought about hiring them to clear my back yard but had to get permission from all the neighbors within 250 feet.

[Retrograde]

17. They do a good job of keeping the poison oak under control

in the East Bay hills - you don't want firefighters breathing any of the fumes from that!

[Sogo]

7. They rake the floors....

[KS Toronado]

8. Holy shit, you mean Qrump was actually right about something?

[Traildogbob]

9. Gotta have water.

During severe drought. And the goat also shit to fertilize the Forest floor. Just “Ranking” and removing valuable food and cover for the biomass that keeps Forest fed and retain moisture in the soil is a stupid way to manage the ecosystem. But you know, science, “lies from the gates of hell”, a quote from a republicans elected official in congress. A decision maker. A “decider”.
God should have had a appendage section in his magic book that had operating instructions for the home he put us in.

[wryter2000]

10. My neighbors in the Oakland Hills hired a bunch of goats one time

Or I'll be driving on the freeway and see a group of them grazing on the hills. It's really kind of cool.

[oldsoftie]

11. 40 yrs ago my uncle used them to keep 10 acres

He'd just move his fence around every so often. They'd eat EVERYTHING even poison ivy!

[Sympthsical]

12. UC Berkeley quite famously has a herd of goats

You see them up in the hills when going towards Lawrence National Lab.

[efhmc]

13. Went to the Sonora station for their 100 year anniversary and they had some of these super junifer

eating goats for auction. Went for over a thousand $$ and more.
https://today.tamu.edu/2016/03/07/super-juniper-eating-goats/

[Wounded Bear]

14. Parts of Western Washington is overrun with invasive blackberries...

goats are a proven way to clear off property where the blackberries have gotten out of control.

There are ways to rent them for the purpose.

[Trailrider1951]

15. Yep. Rent a Ruminant dot com

rentaruminant.com

[LonePirate]

16. They probably chomp down acres of those blackberries and still want more.

Last edited Sat Jul 3, 2021, 10:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Nice to have some fruit with all of that ruffage.

Edit: It's blackberries, not blueberries.

[Wounded Bear]

19. Blackberries, not blueberries...

Blackberries are a pain in the ass because of the thorns that make them difficult to remove by hand. Goats will chomp right through that.

[LonePirate]

20. Yes, blackberries, not blueberries. Apologies for the auto-correct.

[Wounded Bear]

21. One reason I don't post on my phone...

[Blue_true]

24. I would love to see blackberry plants taking over here in Florida.

Since the Florida pines started dying off (an imported mold or parasite, I don’t remember which), blackberry patches are vanishing fast.

Blackberry plants are excellent for wildlife, from birds to dear. They provide a good food and secondary food (predators like snakes killing and eating animals that feed on blackberries) source that is vital to a healthy environment.

[GulfCoast66]

23. Blackberry is not native there? I learned my new fact for the day.

I guess black raspberries are native? The best of that family in my opinions. I love them. Grew up in the south picking blackberries. But black raspberries are the perfect combination of black berry and red raspberry.

[Bayard]

25. We have been raising Nigerian Dwarfs the past several years

Now up to 15, counting the 2 new babies, with one more due next month.

They will eat darn near anything. They'd rather try to pull the thorny wild blackberries through the fence, than eat the thick green clover in their pasture. Just a few of them can totally clean a finished 8 ft. xmas tree in 2 days (now, that's recycling!)