Google Gets Goats to Mow Lawn at Company Headquarters

[underpants]

Source: Fox News

Last week, Google brought in a herd of goats to mow the grass on its Mountain View, Calif. headquarters rather than using lawnmowers.

The company said that it wanted to take a more "low-carbon" approach with the goats reducing the company's contribution to air and noise pollution.

The cost of hiring the 200-some goats is about the same price as mowing, but the goats were "a lot cuter to watch."

PETA responded to a TechCrunch call about the goats, saying that though they have no problem with letting goats do what they do, they do have concerns about how they were transported and whether they have enough shelter and water.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,518820,00.html

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Google said that though the goats were not technically employees, "each goat is entitled to a free organic lunch."

[PeaceNikki]

1. Heh!! Cool!

[WriteDown]

2. I've always wondered about this....

Don't goats just tear the entire lawn up and don't really mow?

[underpants]

3. No but it isn't a clean cut

but then it doesn't grow very high if you have the right number of goats

[WriteDown]

42. Thanks...

The only thing that makes me angry is that I've been wanting to do this in my own yard for some time, but the city won't allow me to do it. Maybe I will try geese as someone suggested down thread.

[AnneD]

49. Sheep tear up a lawn......

they graze to close to the root. That's why sheep and cattle ranchers never got along. Sheep would kill grazing pastures for cattle. Goats are ok though. They really do eat everything though.

[Dappleganger]

4. Great move!

They should get the fainting goats to provide entertainment as well.

[jwirr]

5. Why goats? Sheep do a better job.

[msanthrope]

6. Goats are less smelly, IMHO. n/t

[Sultana]

7. And their meat is delicious

[DCKit]

35. Geez. Shut up already. PETA's freaking out 'cause the goats don't have safe transportation...

or a nurturing environment on the Google campus, and you want to talk about eating the poor wittle cwitters?????

Mmmmmmmm, Jerked Jamaican goat.

[knitter4democracy]

32. Depends on the breed.

Higher the lanolin, usually higher the smell. Shetlands are small, easy to manage, and don't smell bad. Then, as a spinner and knitter, I'm probably biased.

[Lorien]

9. Goats are becoming the tradional "lawn control" animal

because they can digest nearly every kind of weed (the only animal that effectively clears kudzu) and their voracious appetites allow them to get the job done quickly!

[Blue_Tires]

47. so goats are bullish on kudzu? sign me up!

[hvn_nbr_2]

18. Don't know how reliable this info is but...

I've heard that sheep eat things down to the ground and destroy the plant. So a herd of sheep destroys a lawn/range/whatever. Supposedly that's the reason for old-time range wars between cattle men and sheep men. After sheep have been through an area it's useless to anyone else.

OTOH, I see sheep grazing along the Sonoma Coast and the fields don't seem to be clear-cut.

[jwirr]

23. You can definitely overgraze with sheep. The interesting thing about

this is that you can also overgraze with goats. I read a long time ago that too many goats had been responsible for deforesting one of the Caribbean islands but I do not remember which one they were talking about. Maybe these businesses trying this out will be able to answer these questions in a few months.

[DUlover2909]

36. How about strapping the old times style lawn-cutters (with no motor)

onto a large dog and throw frisbees around your lawn for a while until the lawn is cut? Everyone wins!

[wickerwoman]

45. Or hell, pay somebody to push it around.

But I guess good green PR doesn't have to mean going so far as actually hiring a human being and paying them a living wage. Better to get a bunch of goats (who fart methane gas which contributes to global warming).

In China, city governments hire people to cut lawns with scissors. That's a lot more impressive, humanitarian and eco-responsible to me than some stupid ass goat stunt.

[roguevalley]

46. sheep eat grass down to the ground but it grows back better. cattlemen

got it wrong. sheeps is good. I loves me some.

[Ms. Toad]

53. That's actually one of the good things about goats -

there is some hope they can be used to control noxious weeds without the use of harmful chemicals by eating them clear down to the ground.

ftp://ftp-fc.sc.egov.usda.gov/NE/Outgoing/News/Nebraska...

[dropkickpa]

26. Sheep pull up the roots, too

too damaging.

[knitter4democracy]

31. Goats often go after the trees, though.

Most sheep people I know (don't know enough yet to have all of the different wools I like in my stash ) have good pastures without bare dirt spots that you'd have if the sheep were tearing up the grass. Having had goats, though, I know they'll go after anything, including trees.

[Downwinder]

8. Just wait until somebody parks a ragtop convertible out there.

Thats dessert.

[Brother Buzz]

20. That's Duzy material

[Vidar]

10. Just another reason to love Google.

[Rage for Order]

19. No doubt

Between this and helping the government of China censor the internet and track down political dissidents within their country, what's not to love?

[phusion]

11. Albuquerque was "hiring" goats to...

eat up the salt cedar around the Rio Grande. I think it worked pretty well!

[Lorien]

12. The city of Los Angeles has them too:

[jwirr]

24. One thing goats are good for is eating brush.

[izquierdista]

13. There is a job for defeated Republicans

Because, as we have seen, Republicans are all cabrones.

[Historic NY]

21. yeah but all that bleating...we'd have more noise pollution,

[Beartracks]

33. Bleating? Oh, we're still talking about Republicans! n/t

[bikebloke]

14. In New Zealand, I met a guy...

Who had a mate that was so lazy, he bought a sheep and tied it in his yard so he wouldn't have to mow the lawn.

[bertman]

28. Lazy??? Sounds pretty damn smart to me, bloke.

[LuckyLib]

15. And they fertilize while they're at it!

[Downwinder]

16. Organic

[kimmylavin]

17. My neighbors are doing this.

Can't wait to see it!

[applegrove]

22. There was a story about a couple who got a goat to eat the grass on their lawn in Nova Scotia.

Then they had kids and had to decide what to do with the milk. They ended up in the yogurt business even though they were both professors as Dalhousie University. All because they bought a goat to eat their grass. Was a really great book. I guess you had to be there.

[Liberty Belle]

25. Crest, CA, held a "running of the goats" last month...I kid you not! (link)

http://www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=node/690


The goats are very effective at reducing brush than heavy equipment, and much cuter!

[TygrBright]

27. hmmmmm.... I wonder how much the "low carbon" is offset by the "high methane"? n/t

[handmade34]

29. goats are natural browsers...

not best suited to keeping a lawn trim. Sheep are a much better choice and as long as you keep neither rams or buck goats, the smell is not bad for either. BUT- the best choice to keep the lawn trim is geese- they do a great job.

[Kali]

30. sheep pellets vs. goose shit?

I'll take the raisins!

[No Elephants]

40. Natural browsers REALLY belong at Google! Now, if only we could get rid of IE.

[Vidar]

51. No, a goat won't fit on my desktop.

[Triana]

34. goats are highly recommended as 'green' lawn care

there are companies who specialize in this - they employ goat herders and caretakers - the goats - as far as I know - are not neglected or abused.

[No Elephants]

37. Good thing it is goats on the lawn and not a goat in the

house. (You have to supply your own Yiddish accent. There is only so much I can do with a message board.)

So, back in the day in a small Eastern European village, a rabbi asks a farmer how things are going.

"Oy, replies the farmer. I'm incredibly poor, my wife calls me names and my children have no respect whatsoever."

Tell you what, responds the rabbi. Take that goat from your yard and bring it into your house. Then, come see me in a week and tell me how things are going."

A week later, the farmer returns to the rabbi.

Asks the rabbi, "So how are things now?"

The farmer replies, "Rabbi, I mean no disrespect, but I just cannot understand why you told me to put the goat in the house. That did not make ANYthing better. Just the opposite.

I'm still incredibly poor, my wife calls me more names than before and my children are still completely disrespectful. But now, the goat has ruined all our belongings, we haven't had a minute's rest and the house smells like nobody's business!"

Nodding knowingly, the rabbi replies, "Yes, my son. Now, put the goat back outside. See how good you'll feel."

Some jokes make you laugh and some only make you smile in recognition of a truth you may not have put into words before.

For instance, nothing REALLY improved between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Inauguration Day, except that the goat left one house.

May you always fully enjoy and appreciate not having a goat in the house.

[underpants]

38. Oy with the smell and the noise!

love that joke

[No Elephants]

39. Thanks. It's very old. Most of the jokes I love are. And most of the jokes I really love

are also more life lessons than jokes.

Another of my life lesson jokes:

Abe goes to temple and prays silently and fervently: "I need money very badly. Please let me win the lottery. Please let me win the lottery. Please let me win the lottery."

Suddenly, a voice says, "Abe, help me out. Buy a ticket."

May all your efforts at self help pay off big!

[kentauros]

41. How many goats does it take

to offset the carbon footprint of the Google 767 Party Plane?

[The2ndWheel]

43. Nothing can escape

Everything will be under the control of the corporate state. The corporate state cannot allow goats a free ride on its planet. The goats can't just lay around, eating grass. It has to become a job. The goats have to earn their place in the corporate state, as there is no existence outside of it anymore.

[Regret My New Name]

50. *wonders if he's serious*

[Hell Hath No Fury]

44. Goats "mow" the water reservior grounds...

down the hill from me each summer! The first time I saw the goats I literally stoped the car and and said, "WTF?!?!?!" I mean, it is San Francisco, I don't expect normally to see goats. They have been doing it for four yers now. The whole neighborhood loves it -- all the kids come out and watch for the afternoon.

[Gormy Cuss]

48. Goats are the best fire prevention strategy for the hills.

I love seeing the herds working on one of the hills around here.

[sarcasmo]

52. I tried to pitch this idea last year to my wife. Found a free goat in the bargain ads in Florida.

She said no way, that's why I call her the dreamcrusher.