Should You Rent Grass-Mowing Goats?

Goats were the original weed wackers, and they're still super effective at controlling lawns and brush today. Learn why they're gaining popularity again in this episode of BrainStuff.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain
Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. In the latter half of
the twentieth century, one George Ballas invented what he called
the weed eater. It's a motorized weed and grass trimming
device that uses rapidly revolving strings to cut down vegetation
in small spaces without destroying the bark of trees. It's

(00:23):
easy to use and doesn't require much in gas or
electricity to run. Genius, but perhaps not as genius as
humanity's original weed eater, domesticated ten thousand years ago goats.
Of course, using goats as mowers went wildly out of
fashion for a while in between then and now, but
using goats to maintain vegetation works just as well today

(00:43):
as it did in ancient Mesopotamia. Goats are commonly used
to control big swaths of land in cemeteries, parks, airports,
and even Google headquarters, and though they don't cut grass
and vegetation down as evenly as a piece of machinery,
there are a lot of benefits to using animals rather
than machinery and her Besides, goats, after all, don't require
petroleum products residential homes in the United States use about

(01:06):
six hundred million gallons of fossil fuels each year on
lawn maintenance, and that doesn't even include green spaces like
highway medians, military bases, and public lands. But where there
is vegetation, goats can do a decent job of gnawing
down in base of weeds in a more sustainable way. Also,
goats can turn that unwanted brush into milk, meat, and
fiber like cashmere if you play your cards right. Goats

(01:29):
are known for their nimble hoofs, which can get places
of mower can't, especially through rocky or wooded areas. They're
also highly motivated and will accept the challenge of even
the steepest slope. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is in its
seventh season of using a mixed herd of goats, sheep,
and a donkey named Jackson to clear the grounds around
the airport all eleven acres that's about four and a

(01:50):
half hectors. In the past, they've also incorporated lamas and
alpacas into their grazing herd. Plus goats eat a variety
of different plants. They're not picky. Goats are browsers, rather
than grazers like cows and horses. Grazers will keep the
lawn mode. But if you want an animal that will
take a chance on an unusual looking vine, goats are
for you. They'll practically always try a plant they don't know,

(02:14):
and their guts can tolerate a wide variety of plant species,
though care should be taken to make sure there's nothing
on the land that's outright toxic goats. Perhaps the only
drawback is that you can't set goats out to work
on their own. They need to be monitored because they're
great escape artists. At O'Hare International, land cleaning is important
because it keeps wildlife off the property because they can

(02:35):
denude even the toughest bramble thicket. The airport uses goats
and other animals to take care of their stubborn overgrowth
to keep wildlife and people safe. Wildlife can pose safety
concerns for aircraft taking off and landing, and keeping the
land cleared encourages animals to live elsewhere. If you want
to rent a herd of goat landscapers, that's doable. There
are many companies out there that will service your goat

(02:57):
gardening needs, and according to Red wagon Goats located here
in Atlanta, Georgia. Most residential customers can get their backyard
cleaned up within the four hundred twi thousand dollar range,
depending on size and complexity. Today's episode was written by
Jesselyn Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is

(03:18):
a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For
more in this and lots of other Harry topics, visit
our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, and for
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