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Google Mows With Goats

Posted by samzenpus on from the google-goats-gruff dept.

Kelson writes "Google's Mountain View headquarters has fields that need to be kept clear of fire hazards. This year instead of mowing them, they took a low-carbon approach: they hired a herd of goats to eat the grass for a week. 'It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers,' wrote Dan Hoffman."

4 of 466 comments (clear)

  1. MORE Outsourcing!! by tritonman · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Now they are outsourceing our jobs that usually get outsourced to illegals to animals!!

  2. Low carbon foot print? by LWATCDR · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Methane is a much stronger green house gas than CO2.
    On the plus side they will also "fertilize" the grass at the same time.

    The real "green" thing to do is get rid of the grass and use native plants and grasses for the landscape. That would also cut down on water use.

    --
    See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
  3. How were they transported? by Chibi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Just curious how they were transported back and forth (and how far)? I'm imagining the overall amount of fuel used would be less than using mowers, but there have been plenty of cases where good intentions didn't pay out in the end.

    --
    If all you have are silver bullets, everything looks like a werewolf.
  4. This use of goats may be fine by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Interesting

    as long that they are regularly rotated among the fields. Left to their own devices, goats (unlike other ruminants) will eat the plants clear down to the surface, often killing them.

    There is a fairly hight correlation between the introduction of mass goat-herding in an area, and the encroachment of desert 100 years later.