Goats, nature’s barbers, on a spring tour

View the Video Clearing brush with Goats

The South African Boer goats eat an estimated 10 to 15 pounds of food a day. — Peggy Peattie

(Peggy Peattie)

Out in the burbs of El Cajon, the hills are alive with the sound of … weed-chomping goats.

Drive Interstate 8, heading west near Grossmont High School, and you’ll likely spot them on the right.

“I came around the corner and saw them and thought, what?” said El Cajon Fire Chief Mike Scott.

More than 200 goats are clearing up to 20 acres of Fletcher Hills embankment this week, four-footed reminders that it’s that time of year again.

Fire authorities said as the rainy weather peters out, and weeds and grasses begin turning brown, property owners across the region need to prepare for the upcoming wildfire season.

Homeowners, particularly those in drier areas that are more vulnerable to blazes, are advised each year to clear weeds and brush within 100 feet of structures.

That’s where the animals come in. This being spring, and prime chomping season, Johnny Gonzales and his Valley Center company are hauling an army of South African Boer goats from weedy patch to weedy patch.

His outfit, Environmental Land Management, is hired by property management firms, homeowner groups and others to trim the region’s steeper slopes — places that are more goat friendly than people or lawn mower friendly.

This week and last, the goats have been working El Cajon. Next week, it’s Rancho Bernardo and Mount San Miguel. At least one other local company offers a similar service, Hire-A-Goat in Ramona.

Gonzales charges $675 to $850 an acre, depending on the amount and condition of the eating material. A small work crew tends the animals and helps with the clearing.

The goats managed to make it through a fence in El Cajon Wednesday afternoon and were spotted next to westbound Interstate 8. Gonzales said the animals were promptly corralled.

In Alpine, the Crown Hills homeowners association hired the company to clear at least 100 acres, saying it was cheaper than bringing in a crew and brush-clearing machines.

“We’ve been very happy with it,” said resident Mary Kay Bradford. “Those were areas that hadn’t been cleared, like, forever.”

Gonzales said his 200-plus animals can digest some 2,500 to 3,000 pounds of food a day, but noted they are more than eating machines. Many have names.

“We have one called Chewy. We have Nunu. We have Pokey. We have Sugar,” he said. “We have Timbuck. We have Bubba.”

And a few await names. Several kids were born in the last few days.

Gonzales said there are a lot of misconceptions about the animals. No, he said, they don’t strip the land of all vegetation. They’re nature’s haircutters, not bulldozers.

And no, he added, goats won’t eat just anything put in front in them. They’re not characters in a cartoon or fairy tale.

He sees it all the time: Folks coming by and trying to feed one of his goats an empty can, of all things, along with other trash.

“Urban legends tend to have legs,” he said.

steve.schmidt@uniontrib.com • (619) 293-1380 • Twitter @SteveSchmidt1