A herd of goats has been unleashed on the fire threat represented by the still green but rapidly desicating vegetation in the foothills above San Bernardino.
Some 600 goats are devouring virtually all of the plant life in their temporary grazing areas,  which are changed out every week or so as the vegetation they are feasting on  – grass, weeds and indigenous plants of all descriptions – disappears under the onslaught of the animals’ perpetual appetites.
Goats graze on hills too steep to be mowed, as well as in gullies that are otherwise unreachable.
A bonus in using goats to eradicate the proliferation of vegetation in places where its presence is unwanted because of its potential to dry out and break out into a conflagration with a mere spark is that these ruminants eat right down past the surface of the ground to feast on the roots of the plants, as they find those structures every bit as, if not more, tasty than the leafage. In eating the flowers of plants, goats consume the flora’s seeds. Poisonous plants present no problem to them. Over a period of two to three days, a fair-sized herd of goats confined to an area of roughly ten acres will eradicate the fire danger in that spot for the rest of the season.
Another key advantage to employing goats to do what they do naturally is that it eliminates the need to use pesticides or engage in mowing or harrow disking. Using mechanical means of disking or mowing brings with it the danger of creating sparks, which can ignite dry vegetation
Early this week, in the area around the Arrowhead Springs Hotel a sizable herd of goats was seen contentedly chomping away, with a few having migrated to the adjacent meadow and sparsely forested hillside.