Firefighting goats“山羊消防队”

　　词汇：wildfire prevention野火防范

　　Meat, milk, cheese - just some of the things provided by goats. But now we can also add fire safety to this list. As wildfires damage increasingly large areas of the planet each year, goatherds may offer a way of reducing the risk.

　　Wildfires are made possible by hot, dry weather conditions as well as a supply of dead vegetation that serves as fuel. We may have limited control over the first factor,  but  we  can  control  the  second.  Reducing  the  fuel   load lowers  the probability of wildfires occurring, as well as the amount of damage caused. This is where we can turn to goats to provide a solution. Goats are being used for landscape management in  a  number  of  places  around the world,  including Greece, Spain, Portugal, Chile and various parts of the United States.

　　Goats have a very tough digestive system. Many kinds of vegetation that are toxic to other animals can be easily eaten by goats.  It's not just fully-grown plants that goats are able to deal with: any seeds that pass through a goat become non-viable and will not grow. Human clearance teams have to worry about getting to hard-to-reach vegetation patches- goats don't. They are skilled mountain climbers and when standing on their hind  legs, can reach up to two metres to devour shrubs and  grass that  humans would  struggle  to  reach. Because  of  this,  using  goats  can  reduce  both  the  possibility  of  workplace accidents and the amount of money spent on fire  protection  measures. Goat herds have been found to clear some patches of land for a third of the price of human vegetation control teams.

　　Cost and safety aren't the only benefits. Goats are quieter than lawnmowers and people usually prefer to see goats grazing rather than litres of herbicide being sprayed on the land. Children are often fascinated to see the goats at work and this provides an opportunity to educate people about preventing wildfires.

　　词汇表

　　fire safety 消防安全

　　wildfire    野火

　　goatherd    山羊群

　　risk    风险，隐患

　　weather conditions  天气状况

　　vegetation  植被，植物

　　fuel    燃料，易燃物

　　fuel load   （一定空间内的）易燃物总量

　　landscape management    景观生态管理

　　digestive system    消化系统

　　toxic   有毒的

　　non-viable  无法生存的

　　clearance   清理，清除（杂草等植物）

　　vegetation patch    植被斑块

　　hind leg    后腿

　　devour  吞食

　　shrub   灌木

　　grass   草

　　fire protection measure 防火措施

　　lawnmower   割草机

　　graze   吃草

　　herbicide   除草剂

　　spray   喷洒