A map of every goat in the US, because...well, it's important?

[FLPanhandle]

http://www.neatorama.com/2015/01/29/A-Map-of-Every-Goat-in-the-United-States/



Now you know. Consider yourself warned.

According to a 2012 census by the US Department of Agriculture, there are 2,621,514 goats in the United States. Christopher Ingram of the Washington Post notes that that's more goats than the combined human populations of Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota, and Washington, D.C.

In Sutton County, Texas, goats outnumber humans 14 to 1. And most of those goats are raised for meat. What will happen when the goats realize this?

[Atman]

1. Goats are da bomb.

We have a goat farm near us (dairy only, no meat). We love to visit when the baby goats are born. Baby goats are the sweetest little creatures ever. Always good for a laugh. Two hours old and they're already playing.

[FLPanhandle]

2. Now I've spent 10 mins watching baby goats on YouTube

thanks!

[valerief]

42. I got sucked into the Gary the Goat clips on YouTube for the past two hours! nt

[femmocrat]

3. I would like to hire Rent-a-Goat to clear brush!

http://rentagoat.com

I don't think I could take care of a goat, but I think they are wonderful creatures!

[libodem]

11. Cover the trunks of any trees you don't want barked

They are browsers and like the weeds but don't necessarily eat the grass.
They'll eat the bark off your young trees.

[femmocrat]

24. Good advice.

I saw them on the local TV news last summer when the city hired them to clear hillsides.

[mopinko]

30. o'hare airport has rented goats.

when they took over the old air force section a few years ago, they had a mess of little trees and brush to deal w. they put out a call for goat herders to clean things up.
i guess i need to see how they are doing.

people have tried to give me goats for my little farm. but i am in enough trouble w chickens.
besides, after nursing 5 babies, i am done w the whole concept of milking.

eta link. they also have llamas, sheep and a couple burros.
http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2014/08/28/o-hare-airport-home-goats-llamas-more

[Wounded Bear]

34. Here in the PNW...

goats are a great way to take out blackberries, which seem to have no natural enemies in the region. They take over everything and goats are the only animals that will eat them.

[erronis]

41. Wonder if they could clear other forms of "Bush"?

[flamingdem]

4. i say goat for it

dude

[madokie]

5. I remember hearing my dad say that goat

taste a lot like deer. I've tried deer and don't really care for it.

[FLPanhandle]

6. I've only had goat in restaurants in the Caribbean islands

But it didn't taste anything like deer (which I don't like either) to me. Maybe it was the spices.

[safeinOhio]

14. I eat lots of deer,

lamb and goat. About the only red meat I will bring into my house.

A lamb burger stuffed with goat cheese, topped with onions and beets on a rye bun. My favorite meal in the world.

[madokie]

36. Sounds good to me

but then again I'm hungry right now
We all have different taste, from each other to different regions. As I get older I like the vegs better.

[newfie11]

7. As smart as goats are

We better beware. There maybe an uprising in their future. Then again they would be preferable to repugs.

[madokie]

39. Oh I'd take a goat over a republiCON any day

[newfie11]

44. +1. Nt

[steve2470]

8. Taylor Swift - Trouble - I knew you were a goat (FULL VERSION WITH EXTRA GOATS) could not resist!

[Atman]

17. Man, I can't stand Taylor Swift, but that is some funny stuff!

One of the few times I was literally, actually laughing out load at an interwebs post. Thanks.

[steve2470]

23. my pleasure! nt

[abakan]

31. Too much Swift

Not enough goats but the ones that were there were great!

[Sunlei]

9. not just a cute meat animal that will graze our weediest, trampled, brush choked ruined lands....

Once people taste goats milk and goat butter there is no going back.

Try goats milk in your coffee, tastes better than half & half!

[Lucky Luciano]

13. I read that as "bush choked ruined lands" the first time! Haha

[Sunlei]

18. well Bush is one of the main reasons 'our public lands' are ruined! LOL

[fasttense]

21. Sheep milk is smoother and richer

I did a taste comparison once. It was between Cow, Goat and Sheep milk. The sheep milk is the best. It does not need homogenizing because the fat is already mixed into the milk. It is sweet and rich. Goat milk was pretty good too. It was way smoother than cow's milk and didn't separate like cow's milk does. I can't get sheep milk without a tussle with my sheep, so goat milk is pretty close to the best with less of a hassle.

Why do we settle for just cow's milk in the US?

[Sunlei]

26. I think the dairy industry keeps the market/laws very cornered to their advantage.

I've never tried sheep milk, interesting to know that their milk is also better than cows milk.

[RandiFan1290]

10. Soon

[George II]

12. "In Sutton County, Texas, goats outnumber humans 14 to 1"

Since this is Texas, does the ratio drop when you include republicans?

[cyberswede]

15. Some kids in our 4H club raise meat goats

They compete at the county fair, and winners go on to the state fair.

[PumpkinAle]

16. Awesome......

but I thought there would be more, many more.........

(And really what a great sport Linda Carson is )

[SoapBox]

19. They were used here, to keep the weeds down

on an old Navy housing area (it was embroiled in a huge legal fight, when the initial plan was for a bazillion new houses) that sat with no development for years. It was fun to see the goats munching away and they kept it cleared!

I just think it's such a fantastic way to clear areas of weeds.

[panader0]

20. My buddy has goats. Quite big goats.

One of them follows me around waiting for me to finish my smoke, then eats the tobacco.
He trains them as pack goats and uses them when he goes gold panning.

[Sunlei]

22. goats will very easily go feral & become as much of or more of a problem than wild hogs.

Couple generations of wild breeding/natural selection and the billy goats will be very, very aggressive animals. They jump, can get past most any barriers or fencing.

[NuclearDem]

25. I for one welcome our new grazing overlords.

[Sunlei]

27. soon it won't only be deer & feral hogs tearing up the lawns/gardens across America :)

feral goats will eat the shrubs too and jump any deer garden fence

[NBachers]

28. Time for the "Goats on the Tree" and "Goats on the Dam" pictures

I gotta get to work, no time . . .

[2naSalit]

32. Obligatory response...

[CrispyQ]

29. The one hike I took this summer where I forgot my camera, I encountered a woman with three goats

on the trail! They were 'in training' for trail work. Very cute, although they munched a little foliage they weren't supposed to, while we talked.

[kimbutgar]

33. We have goats in San Francisco

Once a year they bring them to an area to clean the brush from a reservior near my home. Over 50 goats clear this area over 3 days. Families brings their kids and I enjoy them.

[El Shaman]

35. This goat knows-

the jig is up folks!!

[eppur_se_muova]

37. Is there a map of goat ropers ?

[hunter]

38. They eat poison oak. It's awesome to watch them clear it out...

... but best not touch them after that.

My niece has raised goats and is now studying them for her agricultural major in college.

Goats have tremendous potential as an alternative to dairy cows and cattle, and for brush clearance, but they can also be tremendously destructive as feral animals, or whenever their range is not properly managed.

[OnionPatch]

40. We inherited a couple of goats

when we bought our house/land. They were Nubians, I think. They had the floppy ears. They were cute but turned out to be somewhat annoying. They were very pushy and demanded food by bleating loudly every time they saw a human, even though they were very well fed. You couldn't even walk by the back door without them glimpsing you and raising a ruckus. Also, they wouldn't eat the brush in the places I tied them for that purpose. They just stood there and bleated pitifully like they were being punished with banishment. Finally one of them bit my daughter so I gave them to the neighbor down the road.

I had tried goat meat during a stay in Egypt and found it very tasty, so I threatened them a lot before giving them away, lol. Just kidding, really! I treated them well. They seem happy in their new home.

[Man from Pickens]

43. For those too urbanized to understand the Joy of Goat

I present thee: Goat Simulator

http://www.goat-simulator.com/

[Aerows]

45. Goat milk and goat cheese

are things that far MORE people should consume. The goat is far more ecologically beneficial than the cow, has a far smaller carbon footprint, and in fact, can produce a carbon positive because they munch on things that it would take a high powered weed-whacker fueled with gas to cut down.

Then they come home, wag their tails and wait to be milked.

[hifiguy]

46. At least the people still outnumber the goats here.

If I lived in New Zealand, and I wish I did, I'd be nervous about the potential for a Sheep Rebellion as the sheep outnumber the people about 13 to 1.