And There Shall be an Über for Everything … Including Goats
无处不Uber，山羊亦如是
Tammy Dunakin sits in a lawn chair in the shade of her R-pod camper trailer watching her brush-removal team at work. Her crew of 60 is spaced haphazardly across a weedy hillside that rises to meet Highway 99 in downtown Seattle.
在露营车旁边的阴凉地里放一把草坪躺椅，Tammy Dunakin悠闲地坐在上面，看着她正在工作的灌木清除队。她的60位伙计地散布在一片杂草丛生的山坡上。山坡向上延伸，同西雅图市中心的99号公路相接。
At least half of the workers are napping or resting in the shade. The others are wandering about or snacking. It’s typical for this crew. They’re goats.
然而，此时至少有一半的伙计在树荫下打瞌睡或休息，其他的不是在闲逛就是在吃零食。但这其实是这个团队的常态。因为——他们毕竟是山羊啊：）
People walking by are surprised and delighted. They ask questions and snap photos through the fence. They stop. They look. They linger.
路过的人们都露出了惊讶和兴奋的表情。隔着栅栏，他们问这问那，又忙着拍照。他们停下来，围观，久久不愿离去。
“Seriously? This is pretty awesome,” one man says to Dunakin before continuing on his way.
“不是逗我吧？这可真酷毙了。”一个路人停下脚步对Dunakin说。
“Goats out of context,” says Dunakin, the owner of Rent-a-Ruminant, which is based on nearby Vashon Island. “It grabs people’s attention. People absolutely love goats. Everyone—and I mean every single person who sees them—leaves with a smile on their face. It makes them happy. It makes my day.”
“想不到是山羊吧，呵呵。”Dunakin说道，她是“租个反刍动物回家”公司的老板，公司位于附近的瓦雄岛（Vashon Island）。“这成功地抓住了人们的眼球，人们超爱山羊的。所有人——我是说每一个看到这些山羊的人——离开时都会面带笑容。这带给他们快乐，也让我非常开心。”
When Dunakin started her clients were private landowners. Eleven years later, goats are in high demand and getting more popular all the time. Now she also has requests from planned communities, transportation departments and even police departments for clearing shrubbery in high-crime areas.
Dunakin刚开始这门营生时，顾客都是私有土地主。11年过去了，山羊越来越受欢迎，需求旺盛。现在Dunakin也会收到来自规划型社区、交通部门的订单，甚至警察局也会请她去清理罪案多发地区的灌木丛。
In March, Amazon Home Services launched with goats as a top offering. “My email exploded,” says Dunakin. “I got hundreds of requests. No one was expecting that kind of response.”
三月份，亚马逊推出“家庭服务”主页的时候高榜热推了“山羊”服务。“我的邮箱都被挤爆了！” Dunakin说，“我收到数以百计的订单，真没想到市场反应竟然这么热烈。”
This is Uber, but with goats, and more proof that thanks to technology meeting ingenuity meeting demand, there will soon be an “Uber” for everything.
这其实就是山羊除草服务的Uber模式。越来越多的事例表明，有赖科技，创意和需求的结合，用不了多久，什么东西都可以来“Uber”一把。
Dunakin’s herd has grown to 115 working goats, and she now has more than enough work to keep them all busy from April to October. Livestock-loving entrepreneurs are stepping up to fill the growing demand. Dunakin has trained and licensed 10 others through her affiliate license program, and she plans to franchise in 2016. More than 50 grazing providers across the United States and Canada can be found here.
Dunakin的羊群已经增加到了115头，而且已经有足够的活儿让它们从四月一直忙到十月。网站“Livestock-loving”上的企业家们正纷纷加入进来，去满足不断增长的需求。通过其“成员认证计划”，Dunakin已经培训了十家公司并给它们颁发了证书，而且她打算在2016年开始进行特许经营。美国和加拿大已有50多家提供吃草服务的商家。
Goats are browsers as opposed to grazers. Unlike cows, which mostly stick to munching grass, goats prefer a variety of plants. They’ll eat thorny Himalayan blackberries, stinging nettles, ivy – it’s a long list. Goats are the high school boys of the animal kingdom.
山羊是食草动物里的“扫货客”。同基本只吃草的牛不同，山羊喜欢的植物多种多样。它们能吃带刺的喜马拉雅黑莓、叶子上长满刺人蜇毛的荨麻、常青藤——这份菜单长着呢。山羊是动物王国里的高中男生。
They like to climb. They traverse steep slopes with ease. Their digestion destroys some weed seeds such as blackberry seeds, and they fertilize the soil as they go. They also help to keep fire danger low.
它们还喜欢攀爬，陡峭的山坡也能轻松越过。它们的消化系统能破坏掉诸如黑莓等植物的种子，而且它们会沿路给土地“施肥”。它们还能降低火灾的风险。
If they are deployed at the right time of year and contained—not always an easy task—using livestock such as goats is arguably one of the best, greenest ways to remove pesky weeds and unwanted vegetation. And best of all, you don’t have to own a goat to reap the benefits—you can rent.
在一年中的适当时候将畜群“分派”出去，而且让它们安分守己，有时并不是件容易的事。但如果做到了，那用像山羊这样的牲畜来清除讨厌的杂草和不想要的植被，可以说是最好、最绿色环保的方式了。而且最棒的是，眼下你不用实际拥有一头山羊就能享有这些好处——你可以租了。
It’s not a solution for everyone. I received an estimate through Amazon Home Services for a tenth-of-an-acre parcel. At $650 it seemed a bit steep for a mow. I get it, though. The goats have to be transported to the property, the wrangler stays with them the entire time, and she has to set up electric fencing to keep the goats out of the garden beds and any plants that are toxic to them.
这一解决方案也并不是能适用于每个人。之前我通过亚马逊家庭服务网站收到了一份为十分之一英亩土地提供除草服务的估价，是650美刀，作为割草服务，这个要价似乎贵了点。但我也可以理解，毕竟山羊们得先被运到这里，然后牧羊人得同它们一直呆在一起，她还必须拉起一个电栅栏以便把山羊同花坛和对它们有毒的植物分开。
I’ll stick with a push mower, but goats make a lot of sense for people with some combination of steep slopes, gnarly weeds, significant acreage, restoration goals or a desire to do good for the planet.
我还是会选择手推式剪草机。不过对于那些拥有大片土地，土地上有陡峭山坡和粗硬扭结杂草，希望恢复土地的肥力，或者想保护环境的人来说，山羊还是很不错的选择。
Mark Stranahan has all but the steep slopes. He hired Dunakin’s goats in June to come out to his land on Vashon Island for the second year in a row.
除了没有陡坡，Mark Stranahan 在瓦雄岛的土地符合以上所有条件。他六月时请Dunakin的羊来给他的土地除草，而这已是连续第二年了。
“What goats eat, it’s incredible. I had a huge nasty thicket of blackberry bramble with branches an inch thick, and they ate it all. It’s amazing what they can accomplish in terms of clearing,” says Stranahan, who is an architect and consultant who has been living in Ann Arbor, Mich., for part of the year.
“山羊这吃货可真是让人难以置信。我有一大片讨厌的茂密黑莓林，枝丫都有一英寸粗，可山羊把它们都吃光了！说到清理，它们的能力简直令人惊异。”Stranahan说道。Stranahan是一位建筑师和顾问，每年都有部分时间生活在密西根州的安娜堡（Ann Arbor, Mich.）。
Last year the goats worked his four acres of meadows and alder forests for nine days, and this year they cleared the weeds in a week. How did they shave three days off? More experience? Better pay? Cloud-based solutions? Actually, the land starts to recover, and it becomes easier to maintain.
去年，山羊群在他四英亩的牧场和桤树林里足足干了九天，而今年在一周之内就搞定了。它们是怎么省下三天时间的呢？更有经验了？薪水更多了？还是用了云计算？事实上，只是土地开始恢复了而已，这让保养工作变得容易了。
“It’s nice to wander out with a hot cup of coffee and see the goats,” Stranahan says.
“端着一杯热咖啡到地里散步，看看羊，真是一种享受。”Stranahan 说。
Not so entertaining is when the goats get out. Set free, they will eat gardens and ornamental plants (and get sick goat bellies or worse), and they will clamber up onto anything they can, including the roof of your car or home. This is why hiring is the best way to go.
可当山羊跑出去时，可就没有这么惬意了。要是放任不管，山羊们会吃掉花园和装饰植物（这会让他们拉肚子，甚至更糟），它们能爬就爬，包括你的车顶和房顶。所以租用（而不是自己养）是最好的方式。
“I lived with a couple of goats in a previous era on a previous hippie farm,” Stranahan said. “They are damned difficult roommates. The clickety-clack of little goat hooves on your Alfa Romeo will piss you right off.”
“早年在一个嬉皮士农场，我曾同几只羊一起生活过，” Stranahan 说，“它们真是超级难处的室友。小羊蹄子在你的阿尔法·罗密欧牌爱车上的踢踏声，能把你当场气疯。”
Stranahan likes a good goat-based solution because, well, it’s cool.
Stranahan喜欢一个不错的“羊方案”，嗯，因为这很酷。
“Local vegan food is cool, roller-derby is cool, and goats are cool,” he said.
“当地的纯素食很酷，轮滑阻拦赛（roller derby）很酷，还有山羊也很酷。”他说。
Having them quickly graze off weed populations every few seasons is an excellent way to encourage re-vegetation and restoration of natural plant succession. And it’s more fun. People don’t come visiting with a picnic if you’re spraying pesticides.
让山羊们每隔几个季节就来啃食田间杂草，是促进植被恢复和自然植物更替的好办法，而且也更有乐趣。要是你喷洒除草剂的话，人们是不会来野餐的。
Russ Ayers might agree. He’s the landscape manager of the 2,200-acre Issaquah Highlands, a master-planned community in the foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range. He has hired goats to come eat weeds on about 18 acres of the steepest, toughest terrain—land where the community tried using human crews before discovering it was just too rough and risky. Goats have been coming for five years. They are born to take on steep hillsides where weed-eaters wear out and where men grow weary and get injured.
Russ Ayers大概也会同意的。他管理着2200英亩的伊瑟阔高地（Issaquah Highlands），这是卡斯克德山脉（Cascade Mountain Range）脚下一片精心规划的社区。Russ Ayers已经雇山羊来为其中最陡峭、最艰难的18英亩土地清除杂草。之前社区是用人力来完成这项工作的，但发现那样太艰难，风险太高了。山羊们已经连续过来五年了。它们天生就是爬陡坡的好手——那些地方会让除草机报废，让人累坏，而且容易受伤。
“They do a great job,” Ayers says.
“它们干得很棒。”Ayers 说。
When they’re done, the fire fuel load is virtually zero. They chomp it down and fertilize the fields and by early fall the grass is green and about six inches tall. The goats cost a quarter of what a human crew costs.
山羊们清理完后，土地上的可燃物基本就没有了。它们嚼完那些可燃物，还给土地施肥。等到了早秋时节，绿草就有6英寸高了。雇佣山羊的费用只有雇佣工人的四分之一。
To accomplish the same tasks, a human crew would need to cut, bag, haul, dump and fertilize—each step with a cost and carbon footprint that the goats obliterate in the game of who’s greener.
要完成同样的工作，一个工人需要先修剪，再打包拖走，然后倒掉，最后再施肥——每一步都有成本并产生碳排放。山羊可不会产生碳排放，在绿化环保的比拼里稳操胜券。
if you’re in the market for a goat rental, Dunakin has a few tips. Find an outfit that stays with the goats, unless you want to end up on the news. If the animals escape, a speedy response is essential. Check the company’s rating with the Better Business Bureau as well as reviews from previous clients and on sites such as Angie’s List. Make sure they are insured and that they provide water and shelter for the animals.
如果你正打算从市场上挑选山羊租赁服务，Dunakin有几条建议给你。为山羊配齐整套控制装备【译注：大概是指前面提到的控制山羊活动范围的电网之类设施】，除非你想上新闻。如果动物们逃跑了，快速反应是必须的。从非盈利点评组织Better Business Bureau那里查看该公司的评级，同时从以前的客户那里或类似Angie’s List这样的网站上了解该公司的服务水平。确保他们是买了保险的，并会为动物们提供饮水和栖身之所。
If restoration of native vegetation is your goal, An Peischel, a small ruminant extension specialist at Tennessee State University, suggests making sure the herd you hire has experience with your particular types of vegetation. There is a lot of science around what goats can do, naturally, and factors such as time of year, elevation and even sex of the goats can make a difference in what the goats will eat when. With the right timing, goats can eradicate certain weeds and promote native plants.
田纳西州立大学的小型反刍动物推广专家An Peischel建议，如果你的目标是想恢复当地植被，那你要搞清楚你所雇佣的畜群是否对你想处理的特定植物有经验。关于山羊天生可以做什么有许多科学研究，诸如季节、海拔甚至性别等因素，都会对山羊什么时候吃些什么产生影响。选对了时间，山羊就可以清除特定的杂草，促进当地植被的生长。
Dunakin’s adorable employees have perennial appeal. She and her goats have been highlighted in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and “The Colbert Report,” among other places, but Dunakin says she has at least one more goal. “I know that when I get on ‘Ellen,’ I have arrived.” Sigh. We hope Playboy will do for now.
Dunakin可爱的伙计们一年到头都那么受欢迎。她和她的山羊们已经在包括《华尔街日报》、《新闻周刊》和“科尔伯特报告”节目在内的许多媒体中被重点报道过了。但Dunakin说她至少还有一个目标：“要是有朝一日能上艾伦秀，那就圆满了。”哎，其实此刻上《花花公子》也不赖啊，我希望。
翻译：Drunkplane （@Drunkplane-zny）
校对：张三（@老子毫无动静地坐着像一段呆木头），小册子（@昵称被抢的小册子）
编辑：辉格@whigzhou