John Savage wrote:

Xoreth writes:
Our backyard in suburban Melbourne is severely overgrown. Grasses,
weeds, etc.

Is borrowing, or hiring, a goat or two, a viable thing?

If you are in an outer suburb you might stand a better chance of
procuring a couple of sheep. They will make a dent in long grass
provided it's a type they'll eat. Are there any sheep farmed around
the outskirts of Melbourne? Wandering dogs might be a problem for both
sheep and goats, so you'd need a good fence. Owners of goats may be
reluctant to lend goats. Ditto for sheep, I suppose. The sheep will
need to be suburban trained; taken straight out of a farm mob they will
baa all the time and seriously disturb the neighbourhood and probably
not eat.
--
John Savage (news address invalid; keep news replies in newsgroup)


The trouble with both sheep and goats is the way they graze: they crop the grass
right down to the soil (that's why they have that useful little slit in their
upper lips, BTW...) What about a nice little pony? Surely someone in your area
has an evil little Sh!tland you could borrow? Thing is, don't let any animal
graze exclusively on large amounts of new green grass - they can get colic and
pass away in a pretty horrendous fashion from it!

My sister borrowed a friend's goat to crop her back lawn. The goat didn't fancy
her grass and instead ate her roses and several pairs of underpants from the
clothesline. It also ate clothes pegs and made an herculean attempt on a bike
inner-tube! Goats climb and this one climbed up onto the roof of the bike shed
and spent its mornings bleating loudly and piteously to its friend, who was
tethered five doors down. This project failed miserably and the goat (name of
Gloria) went home in ignominy!
--
Trish {|:-}
Newcastle, NSW, Australia