In November of 2002, Tahoma and Denali went to their first job. Their assignment, clear stickers from a securely fenced yard.

They were in a future pasture at Syl's house next to the alpacas. They got to work right away. And Syl was very happy with their work for several days.

Then the biggest wind storm in 100 years hit the area. The goats were not so happy about being out, and on one side of their enclosure, the fence was taken out by a very large tree. Being the wonderful caretaker that she is, Syl made a pen inside her house, in the basement, and brought the goats in. The goats were quite happy weathering out the rest of the storm safely inside. It was quite late in the evening before I could get over there to pick them up and take them home.

Syl was so happy with the work they were doing that she got some goats of her own. Maple, who is Honey's baby (cute as the dickens, and spoiled rotten!). And as company for Maple, she got Cedar, a cute little Toggenberg doe.

The goats get along great with the alpacas. And continue keeping the yard free of unwanted growth.

Next task... noxious weeds!

The Montana ranch needs a bit of work. The whole valley has a huge problem with knap weed. Fortunately the goats think those little purple flowers are a dandy treat!

The whole group was ready to dig in. It was nice to be able to take a walk in the sun, and besides those tasty knap weeds are a nice change from grass hay!

The goats are really amazing, because knap weed actually has a coating on it that has a nasty taste. I found this out by accident digging knap weed without gloves. Even after washing my hands, eating grapes that I had touched left a nasty taste in my mouth.

There are many areas that use goats for noxious weed control. Goats will actually eat a bit of all foliage, but they seem to have an odd preference for those weeds that we prefer not to have. They have also done a good job of getting rid of the snowberry bushes in their pastures.

And of course, after a long hard day of noxious weed disposal, the goats are inclined to lay down under the shade of a tree for a bit of a nap.