Rent a Goat?

On Amazon?

goats in the city via rentaruminant.com

Amazon now offers goats for rent to help with your yard chores. The service, launched in late March and currently testing in the Seattle market, falls under the lawn and garden section in Amazon’s Home Services and is called Hire a Goat Grazer.

goats at work

goats on the hillside via rentaruminant.com

Customers interested in this eco-friendly service are asked to answer a few questions, then Amazon sends an e-mail with estimated prices and times available for service. Seattle-based company Rent-A-Ruminent then delivers goats to your home and sets up fencing and a water source for them while they lunch.

goats at work 2

goats enjoying lunch via rentaruminant.com

Goat owner Tammy Dunakin says the goats will immediately begin to eat most of what’s in their path, and what they leave behind, she will clear herself. Many of Tammy’s furry crew are rescue goats, and she takes good care of them. Her original herd of 10 goats has now grown to 120. Tammy’s goats are often seen clearing foliage along Seattle interstates, and Seattle City Light uses them to clear terrain that would otherwise be too dangerous for workers or machinery. Amazon jokes on its website that some droppings will probably be left behind as the goats graze and customers are encouraged to keep the fertilizer as a gift.

  1. Winnie Nielsen says:

    This is an interesting business endeavor! I have heard of using sheep to do the same task. For sure it is an environmentally useful idea and it sounds like the owners are careful that the goats won’t be around poisonous plants or traffic or dogs. It sounds like business is busting at the seams with such a huge herd increase. I hope they do well and continue to grow!

  2. Cindi says:

    Love love love this!!!!! I wonder… do they use pygmy goats for small jobs? I know that sounds like I’m making a joke, but really ~ I’ve seen what a normal size goat can do!

  3. Heather says:

    Have you heard about the goats that were used to clear a historic cemetery near the Anacostia river in Washington DC area? If I remember correctly one of the concerns there was for preventing invasive plant species from getting into the river; another was for protecting the historic monuments at the gravesites.

  4. Ginny D says:

    A glamping idea: if the cupboard doors won’t stay closed, you can make coordinating fabric-covered elastics on two adjacent door knobs, or use those left-over gathered, fabric-covered ponytail wraps.

  5. Ginny D says:

    Re: the perfect clothespin. I love hanging clothes on the line; it is meditative, gives me a chance to observe changes in the trees, watch and listen to the birds & squirrels chattering, feel the cooling effect of the damp clothes in a breeze on a hot, dry day… and more. It is a treasured summer activity.

  6. Leah says:

    I plan to use my goats to clear out the remains of this year’s garden. I already have a fence up to keep them out, so I just need to nudge them to the other side of the fence. It should take them about 2 days of eating the tender leaves I wouldn’t let them have all summer and I can till with relative ease for my fall vegetables.

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