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California Dispatches Goats to Eat Brush, Prevent Wildfires

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

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  • (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".

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  • (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.