Lots of goats
By Austin Explorer on 7/19/2014
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Distance: 1.68 Miles Duration: 1 hour, 6 minutes
Coppertone and I spent a bit of time late this afternoon in this neighborhood park. We were surprised to find some of the trails fenced off while goat herds were being corraled in the area.
We did know about goats in the area and had seen them here and there, but didn't expect them to be in this park at this time. The goats are part of a wildfire prevention effort in the Oakland Hills. Temporary fencing keeps the goats in specified areas while they get to work chewing down the high dead grass to a more manageable level.
One of the trail segments leading uphill was bisected by some fencing that was being put into place for a future goat pasture. So there are some portions of the trails here that remain to be visited.
How good are the goats? The pasture they were working on during our visit had grass that was typically no more than ankle height. An adjacent plot of land had high grass approximately 3-4 feet tall.