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Applications of Domestic Goats in Natural Resource Management

by Rachel Gray

A paper from a class assignment at Virginia Tech in 12/2/97. (Minor revisions by R.H. Giles)

Domestic goats were probably derived from the wild goat of the Middle East or Asia Minor. During the course of evolution, wild goats adapted to survive severe conditions in places where few other animals have succeeded. Wild goats live in rugged, rocky mountain terrain with harsh weather, low rainfall, and a scant, sporadic food supply. Several physiological characteristics that allow the wild goat to survive these harsh conditions have persisted in domestic goat lines. Remarkable agility resulting from specialized feet enables the goat to rapidly navigate steep, rocky terrain and easily escape most predators. (In fact, the only substantial threat to wild goats is the eagle, which will prey on newborn kids.) A thick winter coat of hollow, erectile hairs provide effective protection against strong winds and bitter, cold weather, while a thin summer coat makes extreme heat bearable. In an area that receives less than 15 inches of rainfall each year, goats are able to survive with very little water. (Domestic goats recovered rapidly after being deprived of water for twelve days in a dehydration study. They remained alert and active the entire time, only refusing to eat the last few days of the study.) Due to a combination of factors such as extreme elevation and low rainfall, goats have developed an efficient digestive system capable of processing a wide variety of sporadically-growing food sources. Retention of these wild-derived adaptations makes domestic goats versatile and applicable to a wide variety of uses.

Of the above-mentioned adaptations, the domestic goats eclectic appetite is probably the most exploitable characteristic in terms of natural resource management uses, however, there are other applications as well. Goats can be used to graze forest understory to achieve various objectives, to graze pastures or areas unsafe for power mowers, to control some nuisance species, and to provide sportspeople with an additional species to hunt.

Grazing Forest Understory

Domestic goats may provide land managers with an efficient alternative to traditional methods of removing unwanted forest understory. Potential objectives for using goats in this manner include encouraging new growth, creating or maintaining fuelbreaks, or reducing browse to reduce certain wild populations.

Goats can be used to graze overgrown brushy areas in forest understory to encourage sprouting of desired forage for wildlife species when traditional methods are not feasible. In some areas, use of fire, heavy or loud equipment, or herbicides may be dangerous or undesirable. Herbicides may have deleterious effects on species other than those targeted and may be unacceptable politically and environmentally. Use of fire is highly weather and wind dependent and has several inherent dangers which could increase with the size of the parcel lobe burned. According to Green and Newell (1982), young brush only burns under severe conditions, making prescribed burning unsafe and often impractical. In addition, burning may create unwanted smoke and aesthetic effects. Heavy equipment may be too difficult to transport to mountainous areas that need to be cleared. Handtool labor is extremely expensive (up to $2000/acre in 1982) and slow.

Using goats to graze overgrown areas may alleviate some of the problems with traditional methods. However, many potential new problems may arise with the use of goats as a management tool.

Domestic goats would require fencing or herding to keep them in the desired area. Not only is fencing expensive, but it may cause an undesirable visual effect. According to Guss (1977), goats will pay great respect to electric fencing. He recommends using four wires, 12, 18, 24, and 32 inches off the ground to keep goats in and dogs out. Less costly, two wires I 2 and 28 inches from the ground are sufficient for goats already accustomed to electric fences, however, dogs and coyotes may penetrate this. Green and Newell (1982) recommend a woven wire net fence with barbed wire. The four-wire fence may be more useful since loss to predators is a concern when grazing goats. Depending on the budget for the particular project and/or the remoteness of the site, electricity may be an impossible commodity. Herders with dogs have been used successfully in the western US to control and protect goatherds, however, they are somewhat difficult to come by. Herders cause less environmental and visual impact and are initially less costly than fencing, but can become extremely expensive over extended periods.

Availability of water is another problem when grazing goats in the wild. If there ms not already an existing water source in the area, one must be created. Water must he hauled in by truck, piped in from another source, or supplied by constructing a well or waterhole on the site, all of which can be costly. The advantage to digging a waterhole is that it would provide other wildlife with a water source even after the goatherd is removed. Hauling water or equipment to dig a waterhole, as well as fencing material and the goats themselves, would require road access to the site. If a road to the site does not already exist, construction of a road would be extremely costly.

Getting the goats to eat the desired vegetation without killing non-target plants or eating poisonous vegetation may be a challenge. The length of time the goats are grazed, and the density of goats are essential to the success of the objectives. According to Guss (1977), goats typically avoid eating severely poisonous plants even when left with only tree bark and rough sources of food to eat. Poisonous plants are more easily tolerated when eaten with a sufficient amount of non-poisonous food. Some plants poisonous to goats include bracken fern, dog bane, mountain laurel, and wild cherry. Contraction of disease from wildlife or spreading of disease to wildlife is another concern that should be investigated when using domestic goats in the wild.

Another application of grazing goats in forest understory work is to create and/or maintain fuelbreaks to prevent wildfires from spreading. Advantages and problems to using goats to graze fuelbreaks are nearly identical to those listed above when using goats to encourage new growth in forest understory. Benefits include avoidance of herbicides and fire, lower cost (?) than using heavy equipment or hand tools, and provision of a new water source for wildlife. Problems could include fencing or herding, protection from predators and poisonous plants, creation of a water source, road access to the site, and length of time required for the objective. It may take as long as two years of grazing to kill small shrubs, and three to four years to kill large shrubs. The cost of grazing goats for such an extended period would need to be weighed against the costs of other quicker methods and the benefits of completing the task in a more timely fashion.

Goats could also be used to consume available wildlife browse in an attempt to reduce the population size of overpopulated species, such as deer. An advantage to this would he satisfying constituents who hold the opinion that there are too many deer. This use of exploitative competition to reduce deer or other species' numbers may he less controversial to more people than other deer removal techniques. However, this method has many potentially hazardous results. A resultant feral goat population could occur amid become a greater nuisance than the deer they set out to destroy. Many non-target species could be negatively impacted by reduction in browse or ground cover, such as songbirds, rabbits, grouse, turkey, and others. Additionally, introducing a new species to an established ecosystem can have numerous deleterious and unpredictable effects no matter how thoroughly the introduction is researched ahead of time.

Grazing Grassy Areas

Another use of goats in natural resource management is to graze grassy areas where use of equipment is not feasible. In tight places such as parks or day use areas \where equipment is too large or awkward to fit, goats may be used to keep grasses trimmed to a desirable level. Goats are quieter and debatably less disturbing than power equipment, and may be more appropriate in natural areas. Use of goats maybe more cost efficient than hiring maintenance workers to maintain the grounds. Goats may provide a safer alternative to use of heavy equipment in steep areas, such as dams.

Problems with using goats to graze grasses include the previously mentioned (fencing, herding, predators, overgrazing), as well as some others. Goats may be a nuisance to people using the area. Also ,goats are known to be poor grazers if there is other forage nearby, so directing the goats to eat the desired vegetation may be difficult. Possibly, "goat deterrent" may be sprayed on non-target vegetation.

Controlling Nuisance Animals

A third application of goats in natural resource management is reducing deleterious effects of nuisance species. As mentioned earlier, one method to control nuisance populations may be to use goats in exploitative competition against overpopulated species, such as deer. A second method could be to use goats as target prey in herds to reduce the number of other farm animals killed by predators.

Initially the result of a mutant gene, some goats have been bred to "faint" when startled. These fainting goats, who become stiff and sometimes topple over when frightened, can be grazed with herds of sheep or other farm animals susceptible to predation. As the herd becomes frightened and runs away from a predator, these sacrificial fainting goats will become temporarily paralyzed and targeted by the predator as easy prey.

Since these fainting goats are currently considered to be trendy pets by some people, they could probably pay for themselves in extra sales for the farmer. If state game departments were to supply farmers suffering severe loss to predators with goats, the image of the department would improve in the eyes of the farmer. Environmentalists may be happy that fewer predators are being killed. The condition of the grasses may improve as the goats forage on weeds and shrubs in the pasture.

Several problems could also develop as a result of this use of goats. Animal rights people may be disgruntled by the treatment of the goats. If the game department supplied farmers with goats, constituent groups may complain about misappropriation of their tax dollars. Additionally, if predators mainly target newborn lambs as prey, use of goats would he ineffective.

Stocking Goats For Sport Hunting

A fourth use for goats in natural resource management (perhaps reaching a little) could be hunting.

Stocking goats for sport hunters could have several potential benefits. Feral goats would probably be easier to kill than deer, thereby providing a species for beginner hunters to target as they hone their hunting skills. As new hunters "practice" on goats and become more efficient at hunting, fewer deer may be injured as a result of poor marksmanship. A goat license would provide game departments with additional license sales, which could cover the cost of establishing an initial feral population and later turn to profit. An indirect benefit of stocking goats in national forest could be a supplemental food source for bears, coyotes, and bobcats.

Several problems could arise as a result of stocking goats for hunting in national forests, including opposition by animal rights groups, initial cost, spread of disease, competition with and decline in health of other wildlife, and angry deer hunters.

Though goats may have many potential uses in the natural resources field, much is still unknown about their ultimate effect on natural systems, cost to benefit ratios, and peoples' attitudes toward their use. Goats have been used successfully in the West to graze fuelbreaks over large, rugged parcels where herding is more cost-effective than using equipment or tools and manpower. Differing conditions in the East may not justify the use of goats, however the potential benefits may be worth the initial investment. Implementation of goats as tools to benefit the natural resources field will depend first on specific objectives, feedforward, and research of current uses. Continued use and success will rely heavily on constant feedback.

Literature Cited

French, M.H. 1970. Observations on the goat. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAQ, Rome.

Green, Lisle R., and Leonard A. Newell. 1982. Using goats to control brush regrowth on fuelbreaks. General Technical Report, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, US Dept. of Agriculture.

Guss, Samuel B. 1977. Management and diseases of dairy goats. Dairy Goat Journal Publishing Corporation, Scottsdale.

The U.S. Sheep and Goat Industry: Products, Opportunities, and Limitations. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Report No. 94. May 1982

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Last revision January 17, 2000.