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Weed-eating goats sought by Alberta air force base

211RadOp

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No kidding: Weed-eating goats sought by Alberta air force base

Jeff Lawrence CTVNewsEdmonton.ca Online Supervisor
CTVNews
Published Monday, July 6, 2020 4:19PM MDT

EDMONTON --An Alberta army base is looking for a few new troops, and the only requirements are that they must have four legs, cloven hooves and an appetite for vegetation.

The Department of National Defence has issued an unusal tender for goats and sheep to graze down part of the base at 4 Wing Cold Lake.

The reason the base is looking for livestock and not, say, a weed-whacker, is because the base "has areas that are difficult to maintain due to the degree of slope and accessibility," the DND tender says.
"These areas need to be grazed down by goats and sheep on an as- and when-needed basis."

The contractor must supply a herd of at least 70 per cent goats and up to 30 per cent sheep for a total of 250 livestock.

Staff have already made sure that grazing areas don't contain noxious weeds or harmful chemicals, according to a statement of work.

Goats will be performing work on the air field in the morning and will be moved into a corral area in the evenings.

A shepherd will help guide the herd throughout the day, but they must have a minimum of five years field experience in commercial and institutional settings.

There's only one more day for interested goat-owners to apply, and DND is hoping to have hooves hit the ground on July 12.

https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/no-kidding-weed-eating-goats-sought-by-alberta-air-force-base-1.5013094
 
I wonder where the 70/30 goat/sheep split requirement came from? ???
 
Maybe consultation with potential suppliers?  "There's no way we can provide 250 goats; but let us provide 175 goats and 75 sheep and we can meet the demand"?
 
dapaterson said:
Maybe consultation with potential suppliers?  "There's no way we can provide 250 goats; but let us provide 175 goats and 75 sheep and we can meet the demand"?

I think consultation for sure but more about grazing pressure. Goats are infamous for eating exactly what you don't want them too and avoiding what you'd think they'd eat. I'm guessing they're hoping the sheep will graze on the "grass" forcing the goats to the shrubs
 
suffolkowner said:
I think consultation for sure but more about grazing pressure. Goats are infamous for eating exactly what you don't want them too and avoiding what you'd think they'd eat. I'm guessing they're hoping the sheep will graze on the "grass" forcing the goats to the shrubs

Exactly.  Goats and sheep eat different things and access different areas (as goats are notorious climbers/jumpers).
 
Underway said:
Exactly.  Goats and sheep eat different things and access different areas (as goats are notorious climbers/jumpers).

Oh great. 

"Engine failure because of goat-strike".
 
Underway said:
Exactly.  Goats and sheep eat different things and access different areas (as goats are notorious climbers/jumpers).

So goats are Para and Mtn Ops qualified, while sheep are like CE grounds mgmt?
 
Good2Golf said:
So goats are Para and Mtn Ops qualified, while sheep are like CE grounds mgmt?
Only if the sheep can travel in yellow trucks. (Yes I am displaying my age)
 
Baa...den-Soellingen

Canadair-CL-13B-Sabre-Mk--6--Serial-No--23650---James-Craik.jpg


We also used sheep ops for grass control after we closed the runway at Lahr.

Why goats and sheep?
https://www.calgary.ca/csps/parks/planning-and-operations/pest-management/weed-control-using-goats.html#:~:text=Why%20sheep%3F,surface%20and%20remove%20the%20litter.
 
211RadOp said:
Only if the sheep can travel in yellow trucks. (Yes I am displaying my age)

LOL...the “Snoozing Six Pack!” ;D
 
And then there was the "Goose Patrol":

US Military Installations Using Goose Guards

GEORGE BOEHMER
May 13, 1986

FRANKFURT, West Germany (AP) _ The motto for intruders at U.S. military installations these days is: When you hear a goose, duck.

Army security forces are using geese, which object loudly when unaccustomed sounds offend their sensitive hearing, as an early-warning system at three sites in West Germany and expect to have them at about 30 installations beginning in September.

Goose Guards are new to the Army, but have a long tradition. The ancient Romans used them on the Palatine, one of Rome’s seven hills. Legend has it that, during a siege by the Gauls in 390 B.C., the Palatine was saved by honking geese that warned the defenders of an attack.

The U.S. Army’s 32nd Air Defense Command now has 18 warning honkers at installations of communications and radar equipment and anti-aircraft artillery.

″The command has tested geese at several sites, and they’re still out there,″ Maj. Joe E. Padilla, spokesman for the command, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday.

″They are intended as a natural warning system,″ he said. ″They make a lot of noise when they sense something strange nearby. That will alert our roving patrols, who can go to the area and check out what’s happening.

″They won’t replace the guards. They’ll be there to alert them.″

Padilla said the idea of using geese came from the unit’s commander, Maj. Gen. Victor J. Hugo Jr.

″He spent some time in the Special Forces and they are known for their innovative methods,″ the major said. Special Forces is the Army term for several highly trained specialty units, including the Green Berets.

Hugo sent his aide, Capt. David Thomas, to Scotland to observe Goose Guards used at the Ballantine whisky distillery after seeing an Armed Forces Network television program about it, Padilla said.

According to the major, Ballantine began using the geese in 1959, and even has erected signs warning intruders of possible attacks by the feathered guards.

After Thomas’ visit to Scotland, the 32nd bought 18 geese to test at three locations, ″and they’re an effective warning system, so we contracted for 900 more,″ Padilla said.

No one has been apprehended yet because of a geese warning, Padilla said. ″We can’t prove that anyone was scared away by the geese, but they make so much noise it certainly is a possibility,″ he said.

All sites scheduled to receive Goose Guards are in central West Germany.

The spokesman said the Army will buy 750 female geese and 150 males at a cost of ″about $25,000 ... much cheaper than guard dogs.″

Tuesday’s edition of the U.S. military’s unofficial newspaper Stars and Stripes said the Army had arranged with West German farmers to raise the 900 ordinary white geese until they are nine months old.

Padilla said the geese are easy to take care of and no problem to feed because ″they eat what’s on the ground, grass and things like that.″

Who will clean up after them?

″We’ll probably just call that part of regular security maintenance.″

Link
 
″They won’t replace the guards."

:rofl:


Thanks for clarifying, Army!
 
Retired AF Guy said:
And then there was the "Goose Patrol":

Link

US Military Installations Using Goose Guards

GEORGE BOEHMER
May 13, 1986

FRANKFURT, West Germany (AP) _ The motto for intruders at U.S. military installations these days is: When you hear a goose, duck.

Army security forces are using geese, which object loudly when unaccustomed sounds offend their sensitive hearing, as an early-warning system at three sites in West Germany and expect to have them at about 30 installations beginning in September.

Goose Guards are new to the Army, but have a long tradition. The ancient Romans used them on the Palatine, one of Rome’s seven hills. Legend has it that, during a siege by the Gauls in 390 B.C., the Palatine was saved by honking geese that warned the defenders of an attack.
...

In the early 1980s, in NATO's Central Region (Basically, Germany with BE, the NL and a bit of DK attached), we were upgrading the signal system ~ new unmanned unstaffed microwave stations and a fully digital message routing (switch) system ~ I remember the Roman story being used by the security staff as one argument for using geese at each site (backed up by alarms connected to the local Polizei and roving (civil police) patrols). The compelling argument was low cost. Local farmers provided the geese and were also contracted for 'grounds maintenance' ~ which included sweeping the droppings from walkways etc so that the visiting technicians (many CF members amongst them) wouldn't get sh!t on their boots.
 
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