SHORT #20: What if Cities Hired Goats?

This week, a simple ‘what if’ scenario…

This one is inspired by a visit to the Japanese alpine village of Urugi [read about it here] where this scenario actually plays out on a daily basis. The goats are super cute, and the ice cream is unbelievably good.

It is a stark contrast to the way our local riverside is managed in the city here: huge lawn mowers with articulating arms and blades spitting out wild flowers, grasshoppers and frog guts. Riding a bike through that in the heat of mid summer never really feels that great. I have a feeling we humans can figure out something better than this.

Do you know of cities that are employing goats (or sheep or deer or…?) for urban maintenance? How is it working (or not working)? We animals are all selective about what we eat, but purposefully cultivating the correct ‘menu’ of wild plants in our cities seems to help make this scenario possible.

I would trade a field of goats for a field of lawn mowers any day.

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