Goats on I-5

If you walk up or down Pine Street toward downtown, you may have seen a group of people intently watching the dog run over I-5 just to the west of Minor Ave. If you slowed your gait and took a gander yourself, you would have had the shock we did last night of seeing a bunch of goats munching away at the hillside. It was strange enough that we stopped our run to the bus to snap a quick photo.

This morning while riding up the hill, the goats were still there and attracting a crowd again. We didn't want to get off our bike in the rain to take another picture, so to make up for it, we gave Tammy Dunakin, the owner of Rent-A-Ruminant, a call to find out what the heck is going on.

Tammy says her 60 goats are there at the request of the City Parks Department and the Coalition for Off-Leash Areas, a group that works to create and maintain off-leash areas for dogs in Seattle. The goats will be there for a total of four days. They'll move from where they are now (between Pine and Boren over I-5) to the other side of Plymouth Pillar Park (south across Boren) on Thursday.

Right now the hillside is covered in invasive species. When the goats are done, "The hillside will be pretty barren," Tammy says. The goats won't eat it all; Tammy will clean the last bit of vegetation so the Parks Department has a clean landscape to re-plant and maintain.

Using goats is the "green" way to go, according to Tammy. No machines means no greenhouse gases and the goats don't really disturb the soil either. They can also get to hard-to-reach spots much more easily than a person with a tractor or a lawnmower can, making goats the right choice, in our humble opinion anyway, to get the job done. Plus, it's real nice to see goats during our morning commute. They're so cute.

Tammy says it's cool to stop by and say hi to her and the goats (as long as you stay on the dog-run side of the fence). She's there with them all day long. If you can't find her, wait a few minutes, she may be in the truck or off grabbing some lunch. You can also rent goats for your large-scale vegetation clearing needs. Check out her website for more info on that.

We took the shot above, but there's a few more at Flickr, both in the Seattlest pool and not. If you've got a few shots, please share by putting them in our pool. Thanks!