Goats Are the Answer
The best fire prevention squad is a herd of goats
For some time my brother on Maui has kept a herd of goats, which graze the vegetation on the property around his house, thereby reducing the wildfire risk. Goats will eat just about any kind of vegetation, including spiky and noxious weeds.
They are also charming and entertaining creatures, much loved by (human) kids. Scarcely a week goes by without new (goat) kids being born. The following video shows newcomers “Woozie” and “Daisy Cakes” shortly after they came into this world.
For a long time the boss of the herd was a billy named Bad Billy who earned his epithet from his unfailingly aggressive and rude behavior. Recently Bad Billy was vanquished by a newcomer named Shaggy.
Goats are the answer to reducing wildfire risk. This evening I wondered if anyone in California had come to this realization, and I found a report headlined Good Goats Make Good Neighbors. The opening paragraphs go to the heart of the matter.
On a sunny California day, Ricky Bobby the goat chomps across a hillside with the speed and pizazz of his NASCAR driver namesake from Talladega Nights.
Along with his fellow herd members, all employed by the nonprofit Happy Goat to reduce wildfire risks, Ricky Bobby is doing what he does best, gobbling up weeds, shrubs, and leaves from low-hanging branches. No plant appears to be too much of a challenge, including poison oak and spiky live-oak leaves. He and 100 caprine teammates can clear about an acre a day.
“I really think that this is a hope of the future—organizations like them who really care about the environment …
Founded in 2020, Happy Goat farm sits on a 2,000-acre property in Mariposa County, near Yosemite National Park. The organization’s Goats for Good program leases out its grazing herd to nearby landowners in the Sierra Nevada at a reduced price, and hopes to make the service free of charge for some residents via a lottery. …. The goats are part of a growing trend of using livestock to mitigate wildfire risks across the West.
It’s time for Los Angeles County to bring some goat herds into the area to reduce the brushy fuel loads that are such a menace to life and property when conditions are dry and windy.
I say we crowdfund herds of goats for Southern California and name every goat after a member of Congress and the government so at least their names can be associated with *some* good before they die. We can start with the California legislature and Governor and move on to California's US Congressmen and Senators. It's about time Adam Schiff, Maxine Waters and Gavin Newsome gave something back to the people they terrorize every single day.
The HOA near me in the east county of San Diego (I’m not part of it) hires a herd of about 200 goats every spring to clear the whole canyon we live above. They’re awesome.