Category: Technology Author : Duncan Riley Posted: May 1, 2009
Tags : google, google goats
Google is renowned for its in depth and difficult hiring tests. But even large companies in a recession sometimes have to drop their standards, and Google is no exception: the latest employees at Google are goats.
Before you think “wow, that explains Google Lively,” it should be noted that the goats are working for Google at a lower level than new product development, instead being employed to mow grass.
According to Google, the 200 goats are bought in to the Mountain View campus a week at a time to eat the Google grass and shit on it fertilize it. Because you need to move the goats onto the grass, Google has also employed a border collie called Jen who dutifully rounds up the recalcitrant Google employees.
Google claims that one of the benefits is that goats are far cuter to watch than lawnmowers. They’re either getting confused with sheep, or the previous lawn mowing staff must have been all sorts of ugly.
May 1, 2009
I applaud Google for this choice. Not only does this help the environment, but it also helps the local farming industry (which, by the way, is how you eat). Goats are fun to watch and have many side benefits for the land that a lawn mower just can't manage. One was mentioned, the goats provide their own fertilizer and reseed the property with the fertilizer.
May 3, 2009
I mentioned this story to my father-in-law on Saturday, and he figured that we already have a Sheltie, so we might as well get the goats to go with it.
While I agree with Carol, there are some people who do not, and would be entirely freaked out by having a “fertilized” plot in a suburban area. In San Antonio Heights, California, residents had a really…um, bad attitude about a woman who started a community vegetable garden. While manure was their chief concern, they were also worried that there would be an increase in wildlife in the area. It should be clarified that San Antonio Heights is right next to some Federal lands that are protected from development, so it wouldn't be surprising if wildlife were to come to this garden. But have we gotten to the point where we want to completely shut the real world out of our communities? Sorry…</rant>.
May 4, 2009
what about animal flatulence? doesn't that create a lot of greenhouse gas?