Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeart Radio. Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogel bomb here. In the latter half of the twentieth century, one George Ballas invented what he called the weed eater. It's a motorized weed and grass trimming device that uses rapidly revolving strings to cut down vegetation in small spaces without destroying the bark of trees. It's easy to use and doesn't require much in gas or
electricity to run. Genius, but perhaps not as genius as humanity's original weed eater, domesticated ten thousand years ago goats. Of course, using goats as mowers went wildly out of fashion for a while in between then and now, but using goats to maintain vegetation works just as well today
as it did in ancient Mesopotamia. Goats are commonly used to control big swaths of land in cemeteries, parks, airports, and even Google headquarters, and though they don't cut grass and vegetation down as evenly as a piece of machinery, there are a lot of benefits to using animals rather than machinery and her Besides, goats, after all, don't require petroleum products residential homes in the United States use about six hundred million gallons of fossil fuels each year on
lawn maintenance, and that doesn't even include green spaces like highway medians, military bases, and public lands. But where there is vegetation, goats can do a decent job of gnawing down in base of weeds in a more sustainable way. Also, goats can turn that unwanted brush into milk, meat, and fiber like cashmere if you play your cards right. Goats are known for their nimble hoofs, which can get places
of mower can't, especially through rocky or wooded areas. They're also highly motivated and will accept the challenge of even the steepest slope. Chicago's O'Hare International Airport is in its seventh season of using a mixed herd of goats, sheep, and a donkey named Jackson to clear the grounds around the airport all eleven acres that's about four and a half hectors. In the past, they've also incorporated lamas and alpacas into their grazing herd. Plus goats eat a variety
of different plants. They're not picky. Goats are browsers, rather than grazers like cows and horses. Grazers will keep the lawn mode. But if you want an animal that will take a chance on an unusual looking vine, goats are for you. They'll practically always try a plant they don't know, and their guts can tolerate a wide variety of plant species, though care should be taken to make sure there's nothing
on the land that's outright toxic goats. Perhaps the only drawback is that you can't set goats out to work on their own. They need to be monitored because they're great escape artists. At O'Hare International, land cleaning is important because it keeps wildlife off the property because they can denude even the toughest bramble thicket. The airport uses goats and other animals to take care of their stubborn overgrowth
to keep wildlife and people safe. Wildlife can pose safety concerns for aircraft taking off and landing, and keeping the land cleared encourages animals to live elsewhere. If you want to rent a herd of goat landscapers, that's doable. There are many companies out there that will service your goat gardening needs, and according to Red wagon Goats located here in Atlanta, Georgia. Most residential customers can get their backyard cleaned up within the four hundred twi thousand dollar range,
depending on size and complexity. Today's episode was written by Jesselyn Shields and produced by Tyler Clang. Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio's How Stuff Works. For more in this and lots of other Harry topics, visit our home planet, how stuff Works dot com, and for more podcast from my heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.