"What are you, a park ranger now?"

Guerrilla Goat Herding

The idea came up during a "Privet Pull" at a local urban forest, 5 Acre Woods. It was an extra credit opportunity, so I expected to get in, get out, and earn a couple gimme points on my next Planning test. When I mentioned to the man in charge and hometown friend, Coach Counter, that his overgrown lot could use the help of my goats, he jumped all over the idea. 48 hours later, I was getting permission to miss Tuesday's classes so I could herd my goats.

Everything went relatively smoothly. The goats had two temporary paddocks, with the first pictured above. I spent from 9:30 to 1:30 with the goats at the first paddock, watching them obliterate every privet plant within reach. The second paddock was monitored by Coach Counter and several of his classmates, also landscape architecture majors, while I ran back to campus to take a Plant ID quiz. The goats left the property right at 5:00 PM. After roughly 7.5 hours of non stop eating, our three guys were noticeably stuffed.

Picture worthy?

The transportation went pretty well. With two pairs of hands, it'd be a cinch. Another Dougie Shoutout to Hans for loaning us Millie's jumbo dog crate. Once I got all three inside, they rode comfortably both to and from the site. (I spotted one guy in a pickup truck leaning over his dash with a camera taking a picture of the above scene. I wonder if he was an Achiever...)

There were a few complication with the fencing. This black plastic stuff just won't cut it. It's too brittle and the goats can lean on it way too easily. Some taller, orange construction fencing might do the trick, especially in terms of mobility. And then electrical fencing is always an option if you really wanted to be temporary. If you had the time and resources, the best bet would be to string up hog wire around the entire area and let the goats do their thing. It wouldn't take long for a small herd of goats to make an obvious dent in a privet infested lot like 5 Acre Woods.

Overall, Coach Counter and his classmates seemed to enjoy the goats' help. There were plenty of pictures taken and even a video or two, so I'll be sure to share when I get a hold of them. Unfortunately, keeping goats within Athens city limits isn't at all legal, so we can't go too big with using goats on the property, but it's definitely something to consider on down the road.

"Another caucasion, Gary."

Acorns v. Noble Goat

We had our first taste test yesterday. "Slam" Duncan and Dora donated enough Water Oak acorns to feed the goats for a week. They hauled an entire wine box full of the morsels off their roof, just to share with our goats. That's a lot of acorns to be carrying up and down a ladder, especially for an older couple like our neighbors. Big time Dougie Shoutout.

I didn't think the goats would find something they like more than their daily pan full of Noble Goat, but it wasn't even close. Like watching a family of obese rednecks devour a Shoney's buffet line. They were chowing down.

The big oak is located almost on the property line between us and Dunc' and Dora's. I've noticed the goats hanging out under it's canopy munching on fallen acorns before. Unfortunately, that's the only mast producing tree on the property. Tulip poplars, sweet gums, black gums, mulberries, and maples are the usuals in the backyard. They'll eat the freshly fallen leaves, but I'm sure the goats would rather have a few more oaks back there, constantly dropping little, delicious nuggets all around them.

I wonder how they feel about pecans...

"New sh*t has come to light, man!"

It's finally time to cross that bridge I've been putting off for so long. Thanksgiving Break starts this weekend and lasts through the next. That's a lot of time to leave these three dudes unattended and just hope for the best. Yeah Right. That was one (extreme) option. Another (extreme) option was to rush the slaughtering/processing time to late this week. Wasn't comfortable with that either.

So we decided to take the goats back out to Miss Charlie's farm either Wednesday or Thursday to chill with her herd. (Dougie Shoutout to freshman year intramural soccer phenom, James for the suggestion.) That way I won't have to worry about Digby getting into Dora's camellias. And, since the goats will already be out there, Miss Charlie offered her neighbor's help in the entire killing/skinning/butchering process. I'd like to be involved and learn as much as possible from this guy. Wouldn't be opposed to the idea of getting my hands in there either. In fact, I think I should. And you'd be surprised how many people have voiced their desire to be involved in this phase of the goat experiment. Unfortunately for my bloodthirsty friends, I haven't granted anyone the wish of tagging along. Yet, at least. Is that something you can invite your friends to? If they're genuinely interested in learning?

On that note, the topic of eating goat meat came up in our conversation around Miss Charlie's wood stove. That whole ordeal will be eye opening. From what I understand, after Neighbor Randall and I have done the less appealing components of a "goat harvest," we'll be left with an entire skinless carcass, which she recommended we cut in halves or quarters, boil in a large pot, barbecue, then freeze. She confirmed that all of this could be done in our backyard with our Cochon de Lait setup, and even offered to lend us a massive cauldron to boil all our goat at once. I foresee an entire day devoted to cooking goat meat and distributing it amongst friends. Plenty of time to do research on different ways to prepare goat.

On top of loaning us her pots and babysitting the goats, Miss Charlie sent me home with a big zip-lock full of frozen goat meat. Boiled, then barbecued plain, then frozen. I just nuked some and tried it for the first time. It's tasty even by itself. A1 sauce is all I've got to dress it up with in the fridge, but I'm already thinking of all the cool ways this could be cooked.

"They're called Autobahn. They released an album in the late 80's."

Was just blinded by my camera's untapped technology. It certainly doesn't look capable, but the Google Picasa picture reader managed to pull up an accidental video from the depths of my camera's memory. Opens up a lot of doors. With so much testosterone back there (their gargantuan testicles are still the #1 source of conversation), we might get lucky enough to record something as YouTube-able as this:

Or this, if Scott would quit watching Bear Grylls act and do something worthwhile, like, for instance, train goats to climb ladders, walk tightropes, and stand on a cup, all with a monkey conductor:

UGA Goat Facts

Here's a fact sheet on meat goats in the state of Georgia. From the UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences.

"In a recent survey, Texas retailers said they could sell 4.8 million goat carcasses a year if they could be supplied."

That's a lotta cabrito. If this landscape architecture thing doesn't work out, looks like Plan B is invest in a sturdy staff, get myeself a good dog, buy a couple of goats, and start my career as a Lone Star State goat herder.

"Is there a Ralph's around here?"

With the leftovers of our liberated hog wire roll, we finally replaced that eyesore sweetgum situation. Looks much, much cleaner, and I can sleep easier not having to worry about extra brave goats. Gracias, Scott, for the helping hand. (Another perk of the bonfire pit is the house's newfound motivation to clean up fallen limbs for pyromania purposes.)

On the other side of the yard, our original solution is still kicking ass. I think it's got more to do with goat's hating water than us being crafty. But if you've spent as much time as we have wrangling up adventurous goats, you'd get excited about small victories like this too...

Weathering The Storm

We got yet another serious drenching all day Tuesday. Steve's Creek was noticeably swollen, and the yard itself was pooling up all over. Thankfully, the goat shelter and hay remained high and dry, so the herd didn't seem to mind too much. They were quiet, which, from what I understand, means you've got happy goats on your hands.

After the rain eased up and the wind picked up, the goats were pumped to have all the fresh leaves falling all around them. And it left the backyard looking as attractive as I've seen it.

Dougie Shoutout to Papa Condon for hooking us up with some heavy duty nails to secure our new benches. Also, there's a nice layer of mulch around the benches somewhere under all those leaves. Good work, Dusty.