Thursday, September 08, 2022

Lambs of Suburbia

I joined a Zoom call with a colleague yesterday afternoon to find her giggling uncontrollably. I've known her for more than 20 years, and I can attest that she's not the giggly sort. So it gave me great joy to see my friend enjoying...whatever it was to such a degree. There's been a good deal of stress in our organization of late, so finding things to laugh about is a welcome respite.

Turns out that she'd just been talking to another colleague of ours who's been vexed by a pernicious silkweed infestation in his yard. After receiving a quote from a traditional landscaping service that approached $1,000, he sought a more cost-effective solution.

The answer, my friends, is Babydoll Southdowns.

According to the North American Babydoll Southdown Sheep Association and Registry (NABSSAR), "BABYDOLL Southdown sheep are known for their docile dispositions. For this reason, they are often kept as pets, but they are also used in a variety of ways such as grass mowers and weed eaters in vineyards and orchards and 4H projects. They are small in stature and are easy to handle."

Some goddamn genius has raised a flock of sheep here in Northern Virginia and hires them out to homeowners and businesses as a natural alternative to chemical and/or expensive lawn services. Branded as Lamb Mowers, they advertise themselves as the "Safest and Cutest weed-control Services in the DMV". And as the photo below attests, they don't appear to be wrong.


I reckon this isn't all that revolutionary a concept down Rootsy's way, but up here in the land of tract homes and manicured yards, it's a damn joy. 

Get your giggle on, friends.

19 comments:

zman said...

I prefer a silkweed infestation to a dickweed infestation. zwoman's employer did something like this a few years ago but their vendor had a herd of goats.

Whitney said...

Yeah, we did something like that in college

rootsminer said...

My backyard has a rather decrepit privacy fence surrounding it, and my neighbor has a chain link fence around their yard that sits about 18" from mine. There is a copious amount of poison ivy growing over and around these fences. We have talked to someone about bringing their goats over to mow it down.

Mark said...

Despite living in a beachside community, my across the street neighbor has two goats. They are a little unruly and amorous though so I don't know how effective they'd be at lawn care.

Unrelated: I'm happy to see Rob's youngest is going to put her NIL money to good use.

rob said...

somewhere the members of the smiths have a weird feeling and don't know why

T.J. said...

big day for Scott Baio

T.J. said...

biggest day for Scott since January 6, 2021

rob said...

took me a minute, but i see what you did there

rob said...

the memes are coming thick and fast on the socials. as are the absurdly overwrought posts by people who aren't even british.

zman said...

Scott Baio has sheep? Or goats?

Marls said...

Does that make Buddy Lembek the King Consort?

Whitney said...

What’s the Scott Baio joke?

T.J. said...

Charles. In. Charge.

rootsminer said...

womp-wah

Whitney said...

That made me chuckle

zman said...

Oh wow. That's deep.

rootsminer said...

If baio becomes king, I’m calling him king chachi.

Whitney said...

King of the dipshits, maybe

rootsminer said...

Watch your mouth! Baio will never be our king!