Wednesday, October 24, 2012

A Dog and His Goats

For some inexplicable reason I am fascinated by goats. Specifically, I am in awe of the current use of goats in kudzu eradication.

The invasive plant was introduced to North Carolina long ago and has taken to choking indigenous life out of vast areas for about the same amount of time. Every summer, the interstates sprout their leafy corridors. When I was a child, we just accepted that it was poor planning on someone's part and we were resigned to live with the ramifications.

No more. Now enterprising farmers actually rent their goats out. Every herd has their own guard dog to protect them from predators. The dogs are apparently raised with goats and accept them as their pack.

I can't help it... I'm just enthralled.






1 comment:

Erstwhile Editor said...

You might want to take a look at the poem "kudzu" by James Dickey, one of my favorite poems from one of my favorite poets: http://www.breakoutofthebox.com/kudzu.htm
In the poem, it's pigs that finally control the kudzu.