Lawn mowing has long been thought to be the best way to clear weeds, but a recent trend is looking like the healthier alternative.
The scoop
"Goatscaping" is growing in popularity because of its many benefits to the environment.
As illustrated in an Instagram video by Nine PBS in St. Louis (@ninepbs), goats can be very helpful in landscaping endeavors. The goats provided by Just Us Goats at Sunny Hill Adventure Camp in Dittmer, Missouri, were considered "landscape clearing professionals," and they undertook the important job of cleaning up the weed-filled land.
"The animals provide an environmentally friendly way to clear vegetation," the videographer explained. "They take much longer than a lawnmower, but they don't require gasoline or pesticides. They're also much quieter, except for the occasional baaa."
The goats do a lot of eating while they're on the job, but they get breaks throughout the day for naps and other downtime.
How it's helping
Most lawn equipment can be very harmful to the environment. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 5% of the air pollution in the nation is caused by lawn mowing machines due to their ability to emit toxins like volatile organic compounds, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, among others.
All of that can be avoided by relying on eco-friendly lawn care alternatives. Goatscaping has multiple benefits, as Let's Goat Buffalo stated it "greatly reduces the use of toxic herbicides, and because the goat digestive process effectively sterilizes seeds and reproductive plant matter, they are an ideal treatment for invasive plants."
Goats can be used to take care of invasive plants like English ivy, kudzu and honeysuckle, and they can also handle dangerous plants like burning nettle, poison ivy or poison sumac, per Gardening Know How.
What everyone's saying
Goatscaping has already caught the attention of many across the country. When a homeowner shared a video on Reddit of goats doing some yard work, it was met with positive feedback.
"Lots of places for the state of [California] 'rent' goats to clear land for fire breaks or clear shrubs and growth away from roads and the like," one commenter stated. "My sister had a property that backed up to some electrical lines — goats came in and cleared out years of growth in a few days. Great, sustainable idea."
Some were even impressed with the work ethic of the goats.
"They're very dedicated employees," another commenter wrote. "As soon as they were out, they got right to work."
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