From The Guardian, 13 February 2021:
La Niña has been good to the backyards and farmlands of much of eastern Australia. Cooler, wetter conditions have led to a flourishing of lush grass, trees and – unfortunately – weeds.
With so many more people working from home, the joy of gazing out of the home office window has turned to dread as the eye alights on knee-high greenery, terrifying tangles of blackberry, pink heads of scotch thistle, and possibly the occasional triffid.
Lawnmowers are noisy and polluting, scythes are so last century, and whipper-snippers can give up the ghost within seconds. What they need is an unstoppable eating machine that will relish the dietary challenge, requires no fuel, and needs only to be left to do its job.
Across Australia, and around the world, mobs of voracious goats are being unleashed – in a carefully controlled fashion – on unwanted flora, and their appeal lies not just in their sustainability. Read more.
Bianca Nogrady 