Goats help with Earth Day cleanup!
#1
Phil and I planned all week to take our boys out for a drive, but we changed gears at the last minute and decided to do a cleanup project instead. I'd been noticing a lot of garbage along the road going into Rye, and spring is the perfect time of year to pick it up before it gets buried in grass and other foliage. Finn and Sputnik stepped right up to the task. In less than a mile of roadway, we picked up 12 bags of rubbish totaling probably close to 250 lbs.! I was planning to weigh it when we got home, but a very kind fellow saw how full our truck was getting and he offered to dump it for us. 

The funny part is that I didn't even realize yesterday was Earth Day until we were half-way through the project. Someone drove by and hollered "Happy Earth Day!" at us, but I thought they said "Happy Birthday!" I was confused until Phil asked, "Oh, is it Earth Day?" I didn't know, but when I got home I looked it up and sure enough it was Earth Day. Nice coincidence! 

   

We found an old couch cushion and I was able to roll it up and strap it down on Sputnik's saddle. 
   
   

We found a lot of bottles. Plastic water bottles and glass Bud Light bottles were probably the most common, but we also found whiskey bottles, and most of all we found dozens upon dozens of tiny plastic peppermint schnapps bottles. I wish we'd known ahead of time to count them because Phil is certain we collected over 100. We joked that some poor chap was downing a drink every night before going home to face the wife, and he was chucking the evidence of his alcohol problem out the window. We also found a quite a few jumbo Bud Light cans. It's scary to think so many people are drinking and driving on this one little road! By far the most disgusting things we had to pick up (even worse than the two dirty diapers) were the baccy bottles half-full of spit and chunks of of tobacco. Blech! Blech! Blech! Why can't those guys toss their horrible spittoons in the trash at home?? After picking up a couple dozen baccy bottles (some of which were leaking), Phil declared that chewing makes smoking look like a virtue. 

But "yuck factor" aside, it was a great project. Finn and Sputnik got to work on their leash and packsaddle manners, and it was a beautiful day to be out in the fresh air. Oh, and I found a dollar!
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#2
Good on you both. Even if it was a poorly paid job ($1) Smile. What is a baccy bottle? Is "baccy" short for tobacco?
Happiness is a baby goat snoring in your lap
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#3
Thats the kind of thing that newspapers love to write about and it gives great visibility to the pack goat hobby.

I'd been thinking about a scheme... What if a guy got Coors or Bud to sponsor his goat packing trips in return for their logo on the packs and while on the hikes, picking up trash. That'd be good publicity and since half the trash IS beer cans, well, it makes great sense.
I don't drink beer, but if I did, I'd prefer Dos Equis.  Stay thirsty my friends!
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#4
(04-24-2018, 11:35 PM)DownUnder Gal Wrote: Good on you both. Even if it was a poorly paid job ($1) Smile. What is a baccy bottle? Is "baccy" short for tobacco?

Yes, chewing tobacco. I almost barfed the first time I saw one. The first year we moved to this house, I hitched a ride with the neighbor's ranch hand one day, and I noticed a plastic pop bottle in the drink holder that appeared to be full of chunky, thick, brown liquid. Then he picked it up and spit a big wad of chewing tobacco into it and I realized that all that brown liquid was saliva with chaw floating in it. Yeah, I almost heaved all over his pickup truck. Apparently there are a few guys around here that do the same thing and then toss the bottles out the window when they get too full. NASTY, NASTY, NASTY!!!
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#5
(04-25-2018, 05:25 AM)Charlie Horse Wrote: Thats the kind of thing that newspapers love to write about and it gives great visibility to the pack goat hobby.  

I'd been thinking about a scheme... What if a guy got Coors or Bud to sponsor his goat packing trips in return for their logo on the packs and while on the hikes, picking up trash.  That'd be good publicity and since half the trash IS beer cans, well, it makes great sense.

Phil and I were talking about cleaning up I-25 just south of Pueblo. It would be very visible, but we'd probably need about 50 more goats to make a dent. There's a Budweiser bottling plant along that stretch, but they don't sponsor the cleanup along that piece of highway. No, that super-messy stretch has been "adopted" by the Seven-One-Nine marijuana dispensary. I think CDOT needs to pull their sign if they don't get busy. Maybe Budweiser would do a better job.
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