Michigan Labor Union Blames Goats for Taking Their Jobs

[sealybobo]

I really needed a good laugh this morning and this was it.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a 400-member strong union, filed an official grievance claiming, “the work the goats are doing in a wooded lot is taking away jobs from laid-off union workers.”

Will the affect any nation-wide movement to use grazing animals to control overgrowth of plants in their areas? No more sheep keep grass short in parks.’

Full story @ Michigan Labor Union Blames Goats for Taking Their Jobs

yea well goats aren't as harmless as they seem

Common Intruders Threaten Galapagos Species

Conservationists say the project is the largest of its kind to ever take place. Goats arrived on the volcanic islands centuries ago. They were dropped of by fishing and whaling fleets as a means to ensure that fresh meat would be available to them for future trips. They bred widely and there ended up being possibly as many as a hundred thousand goats on Isabella, an Island which is the size of Rhode Island.

Mr. CAMPBELL: When they go into a feral state, they absolutely trash the place.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Meaning they can reduce a forest to a lawn in a few years, leaving vulnerable animals like the Galapagos tortoise struggling to survive. On the island of Pinta, goats decimated the vegetation, killing off most of the tortoise species there. Only one remained, Lonesome George, who's been moved.

The Isabella Project has developed three main lines of attack against the goats. Those specially trained dogs which round them up, hunters who wage aerial assaults, shooting the goats from helicopters, and finally what the conservationists confess is an underhanded weapon--a so-called Judas goat, which has a tracking device placed on it.

Mr. CAMPBELL: Goats typically are gregarious. They like being in herds, and so they'll go in search of each other. So we utilize their biology, that trait, actually against them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Campbell has perfected that technique, using a kind of Mata Hari goat, a sterilized female with a hormone implant in her ear that puts her in a constant state of estrus, or heat.

Mr. CAMPBELL: So you've got this sterile, extremely horny goat that is extremely attractive to male goats and draws them in and is as close as we know at the moment to a perfect Judas goat.

 

[WinterBorn]

I really needed a good laugh this morning and this was it.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a 400-member strong union, filed an official grievance claiming, “the work the goats are doing in a wooded lot is taking away jobs from laid-off union workers.”

Will the affect any nation-wide movement to use grazing animals to control overgrowth of plants in their areas? No more sheep keep grass short in parks.’

Full story @ Michigan Labor Union Blames Goats for Taking Their Jobs

yea well goats aren't as harmless as they seem

Common Intruders Threaten Galapagos Species

Conservationists say the project is the largest of its kind to ever take place. Goats arrived on the volcanic islands centuries ago. They were dropped of by fishing and whaling fleets as a means to ensure that fresh meat would be available to them for future trips. They bred widely and there ended up being possibly as many as a hundred thousand goats on Isabella, an Island which is the size of Rhode Island.

Mr. CAMPBELL: When they go into a feral state, they absolutely trash the place.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Meaning they can reduce a forest to a lawn in a few years, leaving vulnerable animals like the Galapagos tortoise struggling to survive. On the island of Pinta, goats decimated the vegetation, killing off most of the tortoise species there. Only one remained, Lonesome George, who's been moved.

The Isabella Project has developed three main lines of attack against the goats. Those specially trained dogs which round them up, hunters who wage aerial assaults, shooting the goats from helicopters, and finally what the conservationists confess is an underhanded weapon--a so-called Judas goat, which has a tracking device placed on it.

Mr. CAMPBELL: Goats typically are gregarious. They like being in herds, and so they'll go in search of each other. So we utilize their biology, that trait, actually against them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Campbell has perfected that technique, using a kind of Mata Hari goat, a sterilized female with a hormone implant in her ear that puts her in a constant state of estrus, or heat.

Mr. CAMPBELL: So you've got this sterile, extremely horny goat that is extremely attractive to male goats and draws them in and is as close as we know at the moment to a perfect Judas goat.

Any animal, introduced to a new area, unrestrained, can cause havoc. The problem with the scenario above is with the humans.

 

[martybegan]

I really needed a good laugh this morning and this was it.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a 400-member strong union, filed an official grievance claiming, “the work the goats are doing in a wooded lot is taking away jobs from laid-off union workers.”

Will the affect any nation-wide movement to use grazing animals to control overgrowth of plants in their areas? No more sheep keep grass short in parks.’

Full story @ Michigan Labor Union Blames Goats for Taking Their Jobs

yea well goats aren't as harmless as they seem

Common Intruders Threaten Galapagos Species

Conservationists say the project is the largest of its kind to ever take place. Goats arrived on the volcanic islands centuries ago. They were dropped of by fishing and whaling fleets as a means to ensure that fresh meat would be available to them for future trips. They bred widely and there ended up being possibly as many as a hundred thousand goats on Isabella, an Island which is the size of Rhode Island.

Mr. CAMPBELL: When they go into a feral state, they absolutely trash the place.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Meaning they can reduce a forest to a lawn in a few years, leaving vulnerable animals like the Galapagos tortoise struggling to survive. On the island of Pinta, goats decimated the vegetation, killing off most of the tortoise species there. Only one remained, Lonesome George, who's been moved.

The Isabella Project has developed three main lines of attack against the goats. Those specially trained dogs which round them up, hunters who wage aerial assaults, shooting the goats from helicopters, and finally what the conservationists confess is an underhanded weapon--a so-called Judas goat, which has a tracking device placed on it.

Mr. CAMPBELL: Goats typically are gregarious. They like being in herds, and so they'll go in search of each other. So we utilize their biology, that trait, actually against them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Campbell has perfected that technique, using a kind of Mata Hari goat, a sterilized female with a hormone implant in her ear that puts her in a constant state of estrus, or heat.

Mr. CAMPBELL: So you've got this sterile, extremely horny goat that is extremely attractive to male goats and draws them in and is as close as we know at the moment to a perfect Judas goat.

Any animal, introduced to a new area, unrestrained, can cause havoc. The problem with the scenario above is with the humans.

Exactly. The Goats are an actual, valuable commodity, so it behooves the owner to control and protect them.

A (maybe) more sensitive question. At the end of their usable lifespan, is Curry part of the circle of goat life in your enterprise?

To me its the economical thing to do, but I know some would get in a tizzy over it.

 

[WinterBorn]

I really needed a good laugh this morning and this was it.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a 400-member strong union, filed an official grievance claiming, “the work the goats are doing in a wooded lot is taking away jobs from laid-off union workers.”

Will the affect any nation-wide movement to use grazing animals to control overgrowth of plants in their areas? No more sheep keep grass short in parks.’

Full story @ Michigan Labor Union Blames Goats for Taking Their Jobs

yea well goats aren't as harmless as they seem

Common Intruders Threaten Galapagos Species

Conservationists say the project is the largest of its kind to ever take place. Goats arrived on the volcanic islands centuries ago. They were dropped of by fishing and whaling fleets as a means to ensure that fresh meat would be available to them for future trips. They bred widely and there ended up being possibly as many as a hundred thousand goats on Isabella, an Island which is the size of Rhode Island.

Mr. CAMPBELL: When they go into a feral state, they absolutely trash the place.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Meaning they can reduce a forest to a lawn in a few years, leaving vulnerable animals like the Galapagos tortoise struggling to survive. On the island of Pinta, goats decimated the vegetation, killing off most of the tortoise species there. Only one remained, Lonesome George, who's been moved.

The Isabella Project has developed three main lines of attack against the goats. Those specially trained dogs which round them up, hunters who wage aerial assaults, shooting the goats from helicopters, and finally what the conservationists confess is an underhanded weapon--a so-called Judas goat, which has a tracking device placed on it.

Mr. CAMPBELL: Goats typically are gregarious. They like being in herds, and so they'll go in search of each other. So we utilize their biology, that trait, actually against them.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Campbell has perfected that technique, using a kind of Mata Hari goat, a sterilized female with a hormone implant in her ear that puts her in a constant state of estrus, or heat.

Mr. CAMPBELL: So you've got this sterile, extremely horny goat that is extremely attractive to male goats and draws them in and is as close as we know at the moment to a perfect Judas goat.

Any animal, introduced to a new area, unrestrained, can cause havoc. The problem with the scenario above is with the humans.

Exactly. The Goats are an actual, valuable commodity, so it behooves the owner to control and protect them.

A (maybe) more sensitive question. At the end of their usable lifespan, is Curry part of the circle of goat life in your enterprise?

To me its the economical thing to do, but I know some would get in a tizzy over it.

I have eaten goat plenty of times. It is delicious. But something my grandfather used to say applies here. "Never name an animal you plant to eat". We lose 4 or 5 goats a year to various causes. They are usually cremated by the owner.