West Seattle double take: Garden goats, out for a walk

June 7, 2012 at 9:49 pm | In Gardening, Seen around town, West Seattle news | 29 Comments

Thanks to Suzanne Krom for catching the photo of George Capestany (right) and son Brannden Nokes, as they walked through her neighborhood with goats Bama (with Brannden) and JJ. She learned, “George keeps them as pets and they earn their keep by eating blackberry vines and other invasive vegetation. It turns out that George uses them instead of using pesticides. He’s considering renting them out to others for this purpose. The goats are super-friendly and easy to walk. Very dog-like.”

29 Comments

  1. I’d be very interested in renting them out. I was just discussing this last weekend.

    Comment by Veteran Wisdom — 11:04 pm June 7, 2012 #

  2. How cute! Thank you, Suzanne, for the charming photo. P.S. Suzanne has done a lot to protect heron habit – a true advocate for animals.

    Comment by Sonoma — 11:35 pm June 7, 2012 #

  3. !!! WANT !!!

    Comment by pigeonmom — 12:14 am June 8, 2012 #

  4. Service Goat Academy. Clicker train your goat to fetch you a beer from the fridge!

    Comment by Service Dog Academy — 1:08 am June 8, 2012 #

  5. Ooooh I love little goats! I’d rent them too!

    Comment by Westseattleperson — 4:48 am June 8, 2012 #

  6. Are those pygmy goats? They look smaller than regular goats.

    Comment by LivesInWS — 6:23 am June 8, 2012 #

  7. Hopefully he has them tagged and licensed. Its a huge ticket.

    Trust me!

    Comment by Velo_nut — 7:06 am June 8, 2012 #

  8. AWESOME!
    Question: how does one ensure they eat only the invasive stuff?

    Comment by A — 7:15 am June 8, 2012 #

  9. Awesome! Please offer up their services – I would love to have them help clean up my backyard! Goats rock!

    Comment by DD — 8:08 am June 8, 2012 #

  10. Pretty sure you have to goat-sit (consider yourself a hip, modern goat herder). My grandfather used to tie the goat’s rope to a cinder block and put the block in the center of a patch of weeds so the goat couldn’t eat beyond that radius.

    Comment by Kelly — 8:14 am June 8, 2012 #

  11. I would totally rent those goats! :D

    Comment by HelperMonkey — 8:30 am June 8, 2012 #

  12. I’m curious – do they eat horsetails as well as blackberry brambles ? If so, I’m interested…

    Comment by petert — 8:33 am June 8, 2012 #

  13. I’d be on board to rent one or two for a few days. This rain has my weed-occupied backyard growing like, well, weeds.

    Comment by squareeyes — 8:37 am June 8, 2012 #

  14. I looked into renting goats in the past, but it seemed like the company I looked at was geared towards commercial businesses and was too expensive for residential homeowners. I’d be curious what George might charge if he decided to rent them out.

    Comment by Suzanne — 8:42 am June 8, 2012 #

  15. I too would be interested in having some of those nasty blackberry bushes gone. If they decide to offer them for rent, I would love to talk to them.

    Comment by Good for you — 8:45 am June 8, 2012 #

  16. Who’d have thought it – looks like west seattle could have a thriving goat rental business! Is there still a goat down at Nickelsville? Could be an awesome way for a camper to bring in more money!

    Comment by westcoastdeb — 8:58 am June 8, 2012 #

  17. Same, I’d be interested in renting them out as well!

    Comment by Christina — 9:21 am June 8, 2012 #

  18. My understanding is that goats eat the foliage from blackberries, but you are still left with the canes. And of course the real culprit with blackberries are the roots.

    Comment by 35this35mph — 9:22 am June 8, 2012 #

  19. we’d be interested in renting them too–blackberries and ivy!

    Comment by MJB — 9:38 am June 8, 2012 #

  20. Do they eat buttercup and clover? I’d love to rent them for a day or two!!

    Comment by Liz — 12:22 pm June 8, 2012 #

  21. Do little goats eat ivy? i know little lambs do.

    Comment by B-squared — 2:45 pm June 8, 2012 #

  22. I’d rent them! I’ve also thought about renting the NV goats if they’re available.

    Comment by pampire — 4:08 pm June 8, 2012 #

  23. A kid’ll eat ivy too, wouldn’t you?

    Comment by squareeyes — 4:46 pm June 8, 2012 #

  24. No desire to rent these wee creatures, but would love to pet them and scratch them behind their ears and between their eyes…cute, cute, cute!

    Comment by ILoveWestSeattle — 9:21 pm June 8, 2012 #

  25. I would rent them. Tomorrow. Can WSB pass on interested email addresses to the goat herders?

    Comment by WSMom — 10:14 pm June 8, 2012 #

  26. I don’t have any contact for them. Hope they are aware by now of the enthusiastic comments inspired by the photo! If they are out there somewhere and do want to make contact information known, they are welcome to post it here or (if it’s not till after the three-week comment window elapses) e-mail us at editor@westseattleblog.com for a followup … TR

    Comment by WSB — 10:25 pm June 8, 2012 #

  27. Eating the leaves off the blackberry is good though, I’d say. The plant can’t photosynthesize without them so it is weakened, right? Then you go at the roots with the shovels and boiling water. That’s my own lame theory anyway.

    I think that might be “little” George Capistany from the neighborhood I grew up in the Northend of Tacoma. It’s a small world. I’d possibly consider renting as well…

    Comment by westseattledood — 6:33 pm June 9, 2012 #

  28. I’m the one who noticed them and snapped this photo. Since they haven’t responded,

    I’m wondering if they even know about the WSB. They moved here recently. I emailed George with a link to this thread several days ago and haven’t heard back. If I see him again, I’ll let him know that he can be in touch with the WSB so all of you can help keep his goats happily well fed.

    Comment by ws suzanne — 11:12 am June 10, 2012 #

  29. I looked into goat rental a few years back and it was WAY too expensive for an average person…and more geared towards a LARGE area needing MANY goats…not just a homeowner with a patch of brush to clear. Hiring day laborers would have been cheaper. I’m sure there would be a great market for smaller scale goat rentals. I have heard they do eat blackberry roots and all..hope it’s true!

    Comment by G — 12:38 am June 12, 2012 #

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