San Francisco is a unique spot.  From retro Haight Ashbury to flamboyant Castro to hipster Mission, this city knows how to embrace weird.  As accustomed as I've become to the wonders of such diversity, I find I can still be caught off guard.  During a recent jog up and down the hilly streets, I saw something that made me do a double-take.  Goats?  In the middle of the city??  Yes.  One can't help but feel farm animals in the middle of a metropolis is strange, even for a town that encourages oddity.  What on earth could they be doing here?

Upon further investigation, I found these goats had a purpose: to clear the land of brush and weeds.  They were part of a SF-based company, called City Grazing.  This company touts goat grazing as an environmentally friendly alternative to mowing, burning or herbicides.  Further, the company claims its goats can cover large areas in a shorter period of time than most manpower at a rate of 1/2 acre per 8 hour day (50 goats).  Plus, they're cheaper than manual labor, are chemical-free and are popular with parents and children.  Even the critter's droppings are in demand!

When I got back from my run, I got on the computer and discovered San Fran is not alone in its love for goats!  There's Rent-a-Ruminant in Seattle, Hire-a-Goat in San Diego, Goatmowers in Grand Rapids.  You may not believe it, but there's even a search engine specifically dedicated to goat rentals, called Goat Finder at www.goatfinder.com!  Who knew this was such a lucrative business!  WIRED Magazine covered the Rent-a-Goat concept a couple years back with this video:

Hopefully I taught you something new today, or at least made you chuckle.  For those of you who can't stand mowing your lawn, now there's no excuse.  You can rent a four legged weed eating machine to do the job for you!

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