Goats are really useful creatures. We use their milk, fur, meat and… firefighting skills?
In several places goats and sheep are being into fire-prone areas. The hungry herbivores move through the land, munching on shrubs, trees and grass, and creating. Since goats only stand about 1 metre tall, they will graze heavily on low-lying plants, creating a gap between the ground and higher trees. This gap can prevent fires from spreading or slow them down. Some places in Spain have even recent wildfire severity on the declining number of herds grazing on the land.
Goats are perfect for the job for a few reasons. Unlike some grazers, goats themselves to leaves or grass, eating the wood and bark of smaller plants as well. Goats are able to traverse a wide variety of terrains, and they are to several toxic plants. They can also be herded in tandem with sheep or cows, creating an even more effective grazing party. Using goats comes with the added of reducing the carbon footprint, compared to clearing brush with machines, and improving air quality. The waste left by goats is simply absorbed into the ecosystem of the area.
have shown that a herd of 250 sheep can reduce the available plant mass by 75% in 30 days. When a with 15-foot-high flames reached an area that had been cleared by goats, the flames dropped to only 3 feet tall in lightly-grazed areas and stopped entirely in more heavily-grazed ones.
The biggest barrier to using goats in this way is a and skilled herders and herding dogs to manage the goats. So, if you’re looking for a career change, a position in goat herding is probably available. Given goats’ relative quietness and lack of air-polluting outputs, they could be especially useful for grooming areas near residences and towns, so you may not even have to commute very far.
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