Wild Goats Try to Save California

Weed-eating goats prevent wildfires

BERKELEY, Calif., Sept. 18 (UPI) -- California has traded Smokey the Bear for Smokey the Goat when it comes to preventing wildfires.

Each day some 350 rented goats are eating weeds in Berkeley at the intersection of Grizzly Peak Boulevard and Centennial drive adjacent to the University of California campus, the Christian Science Monitor reports.

The weed-eating goats are the latest effort to prevent costly blazes in Northern California, one of the most fire-prone regions of the United States.

Tom Klatt, head of the office of emergency preparedness at the university, said the rented goats are saving some $800 a day that it would cost to hire landscapers to clear out the weeds.

Klatt and others believe the hired goats are a key reason there hasn't been a major wildfire in the area since 1991 when 3,500 homes were destroyed at a rate of one every 11 seconds.

In addition to doing a super job, officials report the public loves seeing the animals grazing right in the middle of their posh community.