For these workers, the tools of their trade are four stomachs and mouths like leather.
Oh, and by the way, they only have bottom teeth.
About 100 goats have been munching their way through about a third of a mile of a hillside along Perimeter Road at the Renton Municipal Airport.
They’re doing what goats like to do best, eat almost anything. Regarding a well-worn myth, Don Miller, the owner of Goat Trimmers and their head shepherd, said they don’t eat cans.
Miller has a $5,000 contract with the City of Renton to crop to about ground level invasive weeds and other plants, such as blackberries, knotweed, ivy and Scotch broom.
The goats’ work on the hillside will make control of the weeds and their removal more manageable for city maintenance crews.
Besides Miller, who stays at the site in a trailer 24-7 next to the airport runway, keeping an eye on the goats are his dog Page and some assistants, armed with shepherd’s hooks.
The goats started work last week – corraled behind an electric fence – with zeal. They’ll finish up this week.
“They start working quicker than you can open your eyes,” said Miller.
They have certainly become a minor attraction for those biking or driving along Perimeter Road or for those parked in the big lot on Rainier Avenue.
Miller laughs at the inevitable jobs about the workers lying down on the job. He has heard it all before.
“They eat. They get tired. They lie down to rest,” said Miller.
Miller’s goats work throughout the region, including at the Auburn SuperMall and a number of cities. His company is based in Puyallup, where his goats are pastured in the “off-season.” He also breeds goats and takes in goats from a goat-rescue group. They are fattened up and put to work.
The is the first time the goats have worked at the airport, according to airport assistant manager Jonathan Wilson.
He’s pretty enthused about their work ethic and the results.
Wilson looks up at the cleared hillside.
“This is totally manageable,” he says.
Dean A. Radford can be reached at 425-255-3484, ext. 5050, or at dean.radford@rentonreporter.com.
