# Goats Prevent Fires, No Felching Necessary **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 25, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764 "2005-06-25T02:23:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/1 "2005-06-25T02:23:12Z")
[California Turns To Goats To Stop Wildfires](http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050623/sc_nm/environment_california_goats_dc) ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/2 "2005-06-25T02:36:26Z")
I understand they’re also excellent for kudzu control. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/3 "2005-06-25T02:37:54Z")
Not to mention chicken control. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/4 "2005-06-25T02:42:27Z")
That would explain why they weren’t at last week’s initiation party! 😃 :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/5 "2005-06-25T02:42:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Some herds are doing double duty: preventing fires and protecting homeland security. > > Bob Blanchard, a rancher in Cayucos, California, near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, said his herds of Spanish meat goats devour brush around the plant and on the rugged hillsides under high-voltage power lines. I think they are a better Homeland Security mascot than that silly dog. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/6 "2005-06-25T04:26:30Z")
It just goats to show… ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/7 "2005-06-25T09:49:17Z")
Y’know, I thought felching used a small rodent 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/8 "2005-06-25T09:52:41Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Y’know, I thought felching used a small rodent 😃 Ewwww … just when I thought it couldn’t get _worse_! … :eek: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/9 "2005-06-25T12:27:36Z")
Just another tool in their toolbox of tools… ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/10 "2005-06-25T21:10:00Z")
Ah, another delicate situation sensitively handled by the SDMB denizens with kid gloves. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/goats-prevent-fires-no-felching-necessary/309764/11 "2005-06-25T21:25:46Z")
Does anybody else have the feeling that a few years down the line, there’ll be a contentious public debate over the need for goat population control, culling hunts vs. birth control methods, and accusations by environmental groups that the goats are gnawing the vegetation too thoroughly and thus contribute to hillside erosion and mudslides? Oh well. Too bad “The Straight Dope” can’t rent a few for [troll control](http://www.newtrecords.co.uk/acatalog/Billy_Goat_Gruff.html)… 😉