Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday May 08 2019, @12:56PM   Printer-friendly
from the do-they-get-to-run-the-siren? dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

California firefighters are enlisting help from some unusual allies to prevent more deadly wildfires from ripping across the state -- goats.

The Ventura County Fire Department is releasing hundreds of goats next week north of Los Angeles to eat dead brush that could become fuel for a fires.

"They'll eat until we like the way the landscape looks, and then we move them to another area," Captain Ken VanWig, who oversees the department's vegetation management program, said in an interview. "They're very effective."

-- submitted from IRC


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Wednesday May 08 2019, @01:44PM (13 children)

    by Phoenix666 (552) on Wednesday May 08 2019, @01:44PM (#840753) Journal

    Sounds like a make-work scheme for hipsters.

    --
    Washington DC delenda est.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @01:51PM (7 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @01:51PM (#840756)

    Nope, goats have been used this way for a long time.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:05PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:05PM (#840766)

      That's quite enough of your sexual fantasies AC.

      • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:17PM

        by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:17PM (#840770) Journal

        anonymous coward: Your honor, I object! I was not molesting squirrels in the public park!

        judge: The officer's body camera footage says differently.

        anonymous coward: Judge, how can you believe someone who does not even know the difference between a squirrel and a chipmonk?

        judge: Is there any material difference?

        anonymous coward: Yes your honor! A chipmonk has really soft fur that feels good against your skin. I still maintain I was not molesting squirrels in the park!

        judge: Objection overruled. That will be 16 hours community service while listening to Justin Bieber music.

        anonymous coward: Nooooooooo!

        --
        People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 4, Insightful) by zocalo on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:23PM (4 children)

      by zocalo (302) on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:23PM (#840776)
      True, nothing new here other than using the process to build a firebreak. The idea of using goats to take care of the coarser bushes and shrubs, then using sheep to bring the grasses under control has likely been in use for thousands of years. It can take a while, but it's a pretty effective way of turning moorland or scrubland into viable pasture with minimal expense.
      --
      UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
      • (Score: 2) by HiThere on Wednesday May 08 2019, @04:26PM (3 children)

        by HiThere (866) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 08 2019, @04:26PM (#840844) Journal

        That's not new either. The East Bay Regional Park system has used goat the clear the brush for over a decade. I do worry that they're also eating the seedling trees, however. That's what happened to the famous "Cedars of Lebanon".

        --
        Javascript is what you use to allow unknown third parties to run software you have no idea about on your computer.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:08PM (2 children)

          by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:08PM (#840941)

          Goats are everywhere!

          I just saw this today [gothamist.com]:

          A few years ago, a tribe of poison ivy-munching goats [gothamist.com] were brought in to help clear Prospect Park of invasive plants and weeds. A month later, a different highly-specialized team of mugwort-munching goats were brought out of retirement [gothamist.com] to help deal with weeds that had taken over part of Brooklyn Bridge Park. Now, another team of goats will be called in this summer to Riverside Park in Manhattan, for a project that the Riverside Park Conservancy is calling Goatham.

          • (Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:37PM (1 child)

            by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:37PM (#840978)

            Whether it's in CA or some run-down park in NY or Detroit, the other advantage of goats over humans is they do a comprehensive job.
            No getting afraid, or getting tired, or conveniently forgetting the smelly corner, or any of the other things your gardener may just happen to be inconvenienced by.

            A swarm of a few hundred million crickets also has that benefit, but is a lot less tasty.

            • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 09 2019, @02:48PM

              by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 09 2019, @02:48PM (#841340)

              some run-down park in NY

              I guess you don't know New York, or how the parks there are managed.

              The loss is yours.

  • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:58PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @02:58PM (#840791)

    No joke, there are goat rental landscaping services. You pay someone to place goats on your property for a while to eat things up.

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:29PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday May 08 2019, @03:29PM (#840812)

      Also, in rural areas like where I am, there's sometimes even informal arrangements to do that without payments: The goat farmer gets some extra pasture they can work with, the property owner gets an easy lawn mowing, and the goats get more food. Everyone wins.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 2, Informative) by bmimatt on Wednesday May 08 2019, @10:11PM

      by bmimatt (5050) on Wednesday May 08 2019, @10:11PM (#841044)
      Yes, seen ads for that in SoCal.
      Check this out for a 4 day time lapse of 20 goats cleaning up backyard shrub [youtube.com]
      Apparently, they even feed at some intervals at night.
  • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday May 08 2019, @04:03PM

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday May 08 2019, @04:03PM (#840827)
    Hipster goats?
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @07:11PM (#840943)

    A new generation of goatkeepers arises in, predictably, California. When will they swap the bear on the flag for a more fitting goat?