What is Digg?Sponsored by Best Buy
You Are The Last-Minute Gift Master! (Guaranteed Win.) view!
bestbuy.com - This gift is never obsolete, everyone likes it and it's always in stock at the last minute...
127 Comments
- DirtyVicar, on 05/03/2009, -1/+103Speaking as an owner of 12 goats, they're an awesome way to get rid of poison ivy. I've used hoes and herbicide in the past and neither do a very good job, but goats will eat it down to the root like it's popcorn. Best of all goat droppings are like rabbit pellets. No big stinky logs or cow pies.
- SD70MACMAN, on 05/03/2009, -1/+61They do that around Seattle. Those things can remove blackberry bushes and scotch broom in a way that no chemical or small tactical nuclear weapon can reproduce.
- scuba7183, on 05/03/2009, -0/+50yeah, the hoes always get it, then they wont stop bitching about it for like a month
- TheBlueVulcan, on 05/03/2009, -1/+50You are aware that the goats are still alive, regardless of whether Google uses them or not, right?
- Laminarcissus, on 05/03/2009, -2/+44And your post is a lame grab at smart points. See there's this thing, called Google, that is making "going out on limbs and guessing" obsolete.
According to the EPA:
"Garden equipment engines, which have had unregulated emissions until very recently, emit high levels of carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides, producing up to 5% of the nation's air pollution and a good deal more in metropolitan areas.
"A typical 3.5 horsepower gas mower, for instance, can emit the same amount of VOCs -- key precursors to smog -- in an hour as a new car driven 340 miles. A traditional gas powered lawn mower produces as much air pollution as 43 new cars each being driven 12,000 miles."
Looking things up -- it's the new guessing! - freedomischaos, on 05/03/2009, -0/+40Damn, in and out of beta that fast.
- cmsjustin, on 05/01/2009, -0/+30ohhh..... "attacked"
- OptimusPrimate, on 05/03/2009, -1/+26If sheep once grazed the grass of the White House, I don't see why goats can't graze the lawns of Google Headquarters.
- NathanLoehlein, on 07/27/2009, -2/+26http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9jxa7T6WGQ&fea ...
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/319789_goats14.html
The Washington DOT regularly does this in areas around freeways/park and rides where lawnmowers cant get to (too hilly, too many trees, whatever). The goats go in to a giant thorny mess and leave almost nothing behind. - Laminarcissus, on 05/03/2009, -2/+26I read your article and, despite repeated searching, could not find the part where it said goats and cattle "are more harmful to the environment than mowers."
Would you point me to that please?
Because I can't imagine that, in the middle of an Information Age, you would simply make something up. - DangerCollie, on 05/03/2009, -0/+20I've got 17. This year they've cleaned out parts of my property that haven't seen daylight in years.
http://www.dangercollie.com/goats/index.php
Besides poison ivy and poison oak, they love any kind of vine, like kudzu or wild grape vines. Because of their four chambered stomach, they won't spread kudzu like other grazing animals. It's funny once in a while on a calm day to look out and see one of the trees swaying. Down at the bottom Big Billy is up on his hind legs trying to pull down a vine.
They do require some maintenance, like wormer and the occasional hoof trimming, and it takes good fencing to keep them in one place. But they have cut my field mowing down to one or two times a year, brush cutting to zero, chainsaw zero, weed whacker zero. When I have 30, that will be just about right.
And they also provide a very tasty meat that is lower in fat and calories than skinless chicken. - xshare, on 05/03/2009, -0/+19In Nebraska you're not transporting the goats to a city in a truck.
- richIsBored, on 05/03/2009, -2/+16I suppose if you get down on all fours and "baaahh" for a bit you'll get attached.
- roijen, on 05/03/2009, -0/+13Q. What is the daily methane output of an unladen goat?
A. If you are going to make claims that fall into the "sounds about right" category please add figures. - diggnidy, on 05/03/2009, -0/+12quick somebody post a mountain-goat pic !!!
- Vodd9, on 05/03/2009, -0/+12Hi.
http://www.azfotos.com/animals/mammals/stockphotos ... - SD70MACMAN, on 05/03/2009, -1/+10How much CO2 would be produced using a lawnmower? I think being afraid of goats producing CO2 vs. the alternatives is sweating the small stuff a little too much. And honestly, letting the grass grow that much longer isn't going to make a difference. Grass can't convert that much CO2 into O2. Plant some trees.
Another benefit is that the goat could be used for milk and wool. - codechino, on 05/03/2009, -0/+8why would you ever remove a blackberry bush? they're so delicious...
- muleskinner, on 05/03/2009, -0/+8Ggoats (beta)
- inactive, on 05/03/2009, -1/+8Especially on a thread about, umm, the google.
- DangerCollie, on 05/03/2009, -0/+7Eh? Goats don't eat anything down to the root, unless they're starving. Mine strip the leaves off weeds and sticker bushes leaving the dead stalks. That's perfect because then the roots keep the hillsides from eroding.
If you keep them in a pen that's too small they'll graze down to the ground because they're desperate. They don't do that when they're in a big enough grazing area. I still have to high mow the grass twice a year. - inactive, on 05/03/2009, -1/+8you not very punny
- Zomgondo, on 05/03/2009, -0/+6I live in CA near Google HQ and can tell you all the grass is dead (or damn near dead) every year around this time anyway, so the CO2 -> O2 argument doesn't work. I can't tell you the CO2 output of a weed whacker vs. a goat, but realistically it's no worse, and it's a neat way to blend traditional grazing with a the modern need for fire suppression.
I worked at Lawrence Berkeley Labs (inventors of the nuke(tm), so drop the hippie jokes) for awhile, and they did the same thing... I remember walking to my car one day and seeing a herd of goats and a shepherd cruise by and thinking that it was a pretty neat idea. - inactive, on 05/03/2009, -2/+7And the landscaping company teleports their lawnmowers? Face it, you're a moron.
- iletumi, on 05/03/2009, -0/+51 lawn mower is much worse then a dozen goats. People need to get some ***** education, seriously it makes me laugh when i see these dumb ass comments.
- mhearne, on 05/03/2009, -1/+6Yes, it's kind of funny that they seem to love stickers and poisonous plants so much. Some of the stuff they eat would ruin a cow's milk but doesn't seem to affect theirs.
I've been told that you can cook poison ivy down like spinach, and it's quite healthy. Like other things that you can't eat raw, like stinging nettles, columbine and milkweed.
Uh oh, I'm starting to sound like a krishna; "Would anyone like a bowl of seeds?" - DrHoliday, on 05/03/2009, -6/+10vroom101 must be creaming his pants right now. I was surprised he didn't submit this.
- dralezero, on 05/03/2009, -0/+4I bet it makes the lawn look like crap though.
- iLuke, on 05/03/2009, -0/+4Presume that the grass is going to get cut, either by goats or by mowers. If you use mowers, you still have to transport them to the fields (as well as the crews to operate them) and presuming that it is not a one-day job, you're looking at multiple trips. Moving the goats may or may not have a slightly higher carbon footprint than moving the mowing equipment (I don't know, and, quite frankly, "studying" that would be a huge waste of time). The point is, for all the hours that the mowing equipment would be running, now they won't be.
- Tense, on 05/03/2009, -0/+4From PETA's website:
Contrary to myth, PETA does not want to confiscate animals who are well cared for and "set them free." What we want is for the population of dogs and cats to be reduced through spaying and neutering and for people to adopt animals (preferably two so that they can keep each other company when their human companions aren't home) from pounds or shelters—never from pet shops or breeders—thereby reducing suffering in the world.
Just saying.... - bearcat8543, on 05/03/2009, -0/+4wat
- DotFreelance, on 05/03/2009, -0/+4Owned.
- iletumi, on 05/03/2009, -0/+4actually its called fertilizer, no need to remove it :)
Then again you would know that was their plan if you RTFA - iletumi, on 05/03/2009, -0/+4you guys need to introduce a proper predator in the outback. We have enough variations in America to be able to enjoy to cute cotton balls.
- jeexbit, on 05/03/2009, -0/+3You've never visited Seattle I take it? :)
- blakestah, on 05/03/2009, -1/+4I've met the goat owner. They have a farm in Santa Cruz. He has several trailers, and will haul the goats places for 2 days to weeks. I met him when they were clearing a city park in San Francisco. He brought them up, penned them in, and then went to a bar and told us jokes for two days.
Apparently you can make VERY good money running a goat land-clearing service. - Myztry, on 05/03/2009, -0/+3Next step: Dung Beetles...
- Laminarcissus, on 05/04/2009, -0/+2Well, don't you perk up when someone reminds you to have standards! You might try that post the first time around.
But, to the substance of your post:
>>"grab a quote off a website and plop it down and make it look like you have something intelligent to say."
Uhmm, yes. That is the process. Go to a resource and quote it, with attribution. That way we can avoid an ugly little thing we call "approximation."
>>"What I was doing is called approximation."
You give yourself too much credit. What you were doing is called "yanking random thoughts from your ass."
>>"The transportation of 200 goats would require the use of multiple livestock trailers each pulled by a heavy duty truck. The EPA's CAFE standards continue to exclude heavy duty pick ups, the same kind used to haul these goats, so I'll let you Oh-Master-of-the-Google find out for yourself just how wrong you actually are."
Sorry, I looked all over, but I couldn't find any pictures or even a mention of those trucks. Would you point me to that reference?
And your "approximating" is getting a little ass-y again, so before you pull your glowing sword of truth from the stone and declare yourself King of Smart, you should realize that a few swipes at using Google yourself is worthless if you fill in the cracks with half-baked assertions.
Some questions to ask yourself (you'll find these and more in the study guide) are:
-- How often are the goats transported?
-- On what platform are they transported? Is it gas or diesel? Or biodiesel, perhaps?
-- How often would the grass otherwise be mowed?
-- How many industrial lawnmowers would be employed in that process and for how long?
-- How are the lawnmowers transported to the site and for how long a distance?
But don't worry, you're still proving some valuable lessons here -- that pulling things out of your ass is no substitute for research, but that research is no substitute for actually thinking. - Bloyru, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2ONE POINT TWENTY-ONE JIGGAWATTS!
- vatosplace, on 05/03/2009, -1/+3When did Nebraska get the interwebs?
- Krinkov, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2In Soviet Nebraska, Goat farmer pays YOU!
nah, still would rather be here in Cali. - iletumi, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2Ya your comment would work and be more funny if it was true. Google runs the most power efficient data centers out there.
http://www.google.com/corporate/green/datacenters/ - haikuFU, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2My friend had this same idea. They kept everything on his property mowed down quite nicely, but also mowed garden hoses, decorative fencing, plants and flowers, landscape edging, siding, and anything else they could find. They caused so much damage, he just went back to mowing it himself.
- tashtego67, on 05/03/2009, -1/+3From the comments of goat owners this sounds like a smart decision. Maybe goats should replace lawnmowers for more of us.
- Myztry, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2It's not the outback where they are/were a real issue. It's rural areas where predators are kept clear from livestock.
About the only suitably sized predator that doesn't threaten livestock are the snakes. Still, the rabbits severly outbreed them. There are some (imported) feral foxes/cats/dogs but they tend to decimate the marsupials so are kept in low numbers as well. - AmericanGunner, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2google is ll cool jay?
- krunk4ever, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2IIRC, there was a big fight over goats vs cows for grazing land back in the day because goats would uproot the grass, while cows didn't.
I guess if you're mowing weeds, uprooting is a good thing. But mowing typically refers to leveling/trimming grass/grain, which doesn't involve uprooting. If what the goats are doing is removing weed, shouldn't this be called "weeding"? - larryatdigg, on 05/03/2009, -0/+2Can I share the task with them? I need a job.
-
Show 51 - 100 of 136 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is 