the best way to clear undergrowth on a course?

[Future_Primitive]

Just posted in the other goat thread, Jellystone Park in Colorado has goats there to clean up the DG course. We saw them cleaning up the tee pad on #3 when we were hitting the back 9.

They also will rent you a goat for a caddy to carry your discs for you. Cool course and very fun to play, cant wait to get back out there this summer and try it again, maybe even with a caddy.

http://jellystonelarkspur.com/?page_id=132

 

[filobedo]

McBeth is the G.O.A.T.

2 - 3 Goats sound like it would work depending on the property size and have them on the property during summer months when everything is blooming. They would probably cost less than a tractor, gas, etc. and be more efficient and earth friendly. I will have to say though that when I saw the G.O.A.T. reference, I immediately thought of the movie Waiting.

 

[jdawg24]

We've had a sheep herd clearing Perkerson in Atlanta for the last 3 weeks. http://perkersondiscgolf.com/2013/09/11/sheep-progress/

They have about 50-head out, which is smaller than optimal (last year they had 200). They are enclosed in an electric fence and guarded by several dogs, and they are moved around to different areas each week. They eat absolutely everything green below 5-feet and destroy kudzu. It doesn't permanently kill anything, but knocks it back more than anything else I've ever seen -- like a vegetation bomb went off. In the first photo in the link above, the grass (pre sheep) extended about 30 feet inside the fence line. It does leave everything very prone and makes permanent removal of the stems very easy after they come through. Our plan is to cut and spray all of the stuff after it's been cleared by the sheep so it won't grow back.

I think with 200-head herd they were doing an acre a day, or close to that.

 

[Bamm]

I think it's awesome......

 

[scarpfish]

Please tell me that they'll eat sand burrs.

 

[luckless_pedestrian]

Davidson College uses them to control kudzu. They're awesome. It's amazing how they transform the area.

 

[Countchunkula]

This reminds me of a restaurant we would stop at on the way to my grandma's place in Door County, WI. The goats are there to keep the grass roof trimmed (and to attract tourists).

 

[SteezeOG]

nah the goats seem to do a better job. Maybe save the fire and roast the goats when they finish. It's probably good eatin. :\

 

[davetherocketguy]

I've cleared heavy undergrowth and it blows. I would MUCH rather hire some goats to just come in there and do it. Brushhogs on the back of a tractor work great but that means a big peice of equipment that can't into all the spots you want to get and also big equipment ruts in soft ground that can be annoying. I would much rather deal with goat poo than poison ivy. Poo is just smelly and can be washed off but a rash sticks around for a couple of weeks and is really painful.

 

[JeremyKShort]

Goats will clear out stuff pretty darn quick. I can't say it's crazy.

 

[JeremyKShort]

I've cleared heavy undergrowth and it blows. I would MUCH rather hire some goats to just come in there and do it. Brushhogs on the back of a tractor work great but that means a big peice of equipment that can't into all the spots you want to get and also big equipment ruts in soft ground that can be annoying. I would much rather deal with goat poo than poison ivy. Poo is just smelly and can be washed off but a rash sticks around for a couple of weeks and is really painful.

Goat poo tends to be pellets anyway, so nothing really nasty. This is not like dog, cow or horse. It's more akin to deer poo.

 

[art_vandelay]

Two words:
Goat Poo

Two more words: Goat Flatulence. Would goat gas contribute to the thinning of the ozone layer? I've read that cows make tremendous amounts of methane. Not sure if goats do the same but if so, there goes the environmentally friendly argument.

 

[Dubbo Ego]

The goats are already alive, so we aren't really adding more methane by letting them eat someone else's grass

 

[art_vandelay]

The goats are already alive, so we aren't really adding more methane by letting them eat someone else's grass

True. But my point was that using goats may not actually be as environmentally friendly as people think when compared to using a machine that burns fossil fuels instead.

I think the idea is cool for a lot of other reasons even if saving the environment is not one of them.

 

[Tiny]

Goats are fast at eating anything in their path.

 

[John Rock]

Fatten them up by clearing the schule before the event, then butcher a few and feed the players after the rounds!

Win - Win situation.

 

[Reginald]

I got a snake mane, it slithers this way and that

 

[booradly]

This reminds me of a restaurant we would stop at on the way to my grandma's place in Door County, WI. The goats are there to keep the grass roof trimmed (and to attract tourists).

lol i ate there last weekend b4 a round at winter park

 

[tampora]

... but a rash sticks around for a couple of weeks and is really painful.

A couple of WEEKS?? Wow. The longest I've been bothered by poison ivy is about 5 minutes.

Maybe there actually is a good side to having eczema on my legs. They already permanently itch.

 

[davetherocketguy]

A couple of WEEKS?? Wow. The longest I've been bothered by poison ivy is about 5 minutes.

Maybe there actually is a good side to having eczema on my legs. They already permanently itch.

Oh yeah, my skin has decided in the last few years to be wildly allergic to PI. One time it was so bad on my shin that my foot swelled up and I couldn't get my steel toes on for work and had to go to the doctor. The last few times I've had it's left scars. :wall:

But I can't imagine having eczema though. :gross: You have my sympathies.