Animal Diaries Archive
Crikey! They ate the Christmas tree!
28 December 2007
As you can see from the photo, our goats in Kids Zoo have REALLY been getting into the festive season - so much in fact that they ATE the Christmas tree AND all the decorations!Whilst this taste for pine trees might be a problem if you invite a goat over to your place for Christmas, it actually has a positive aspect too.....
It is this "eating-machine" reputation that goats tend to have that's been used in creating both eco-friendly land clearing businesses and as a successful bush fire prevention method. Goats can be used effectively in almost any location and terrain type to clear unwanted vegetation. So instead of intrusive, heavy machinery damaging, scraping and pushing whatever is in their path into a big burn pile that unfortunately when burnt pollutes the air, a herd of goats let loose will selectively eat the unwanted plants, getting into areas too rocky for machines and without causing heavy weight damage. The added bonus is that the goats leave behind nutrients beneficial for creating healthier soil. Actually because of the way a goat's digestive system works, any seeds are so finely ground up that when passed out as fertilizer cannot germinate thus preventing the spread of unwanted plants. Great result!In high fire risk forest areas, particularly in California, herds of goats are used successfully to clear undergrowth, dry grass, bushes and new green sprigs growing on the sides of the trees. The goats will not eat through the hard bark of mature trees, they just pull down the lower branches with their front legs and eat whatever they can reach, leaving the mature tree unharmed. Clearing at this lower level reduces the fire risk and even if a fire does take hold, it minimizes the "ladder effect" of fire climbing up into the tops of the trees where, once the treetops are alight, spreads the fire rapidly and out of control due to fire embers leaping long distances through the air.
So really goats can be the perfect eco-friendly land clearers and fire fighters and if they want to eat the Christmas tree we reckon they should go for it, they are just practicing doing their bit for the environment!
So Happy Christmas to everyone from the Kids Zoo Crew and our Christmas tree eating kids!
P.S. The decorations on the tree were zucchini, carrot and apple slices hanging from strips of lomandra....yummy!
