Homeowner shares before-and-after photos after letting goats loose in yard overrun with invasive species: 'I need to find this service in my area'

A Redditor who shared their experience with goat landscapers was the envy of the r/gardening community.

They posted 10 photos of their yard and the furry animals, which included a doppelgänger of the Donkey character from "Shrek." Yes, there's a video too.

"I hired 20 goats, 3 sheep and a donkey to helps clear the ivy that had overrun my back yard," they wrote. "Swipe through the pics to see the difference."

It cost $200 per day with a $400 minimum, but the poster said that was much cheaper than hiring actual landscapers.

"Man I have some ivy in my yard and on my tool shed," one user wrote. "I need to find this service in my area!"

Goats are one way to get rid of invasive species such as ivy, and they have that X-factor.

The poster noted that they planned to take full advantage of the ruminants' hard work by putting down cardboard and mulch so they could grow their own food, furthering their credentials as a natural gardener. Pesticides were off the table, too.

The benefits of such projects are many: You can save money, eat healthier, minimize your pollution footprint, and bask in the satisfaction of success. 

The goats ate as much as they could, leaving a little ivy that they couldn't get to by standing on their hind legs and the stuff that was underground.

"They eat some of the roots," the poster added. "They probably ate enough to shock the ivy to death but since I want to grow in this area I want to make sure that it's gone. So after they were done clearing all of the leaves and even eating some of the vines that made it much easier for me to go in and pull everything out."

One commenter joked about the next step in the evolution of animal-based yard work to get rid of damaging invasive species: "Ok what I really want to see is a backyard full of pandas eating bamboo."

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