Don Baccus writes:

> I know there are places in England where cows are used
> similarly, lands held by the Wildlife Trust I believe.
> They're used as mowing machines for certain types of
> habitat. Real mowing machines perhaps could be used,
> but would cost more, I believe is the motivation.

Some rustic races (species ? :-) of cows (e.g. a scotish race, the
Highland Cattle) are also used in France.

Cost is certainly a factor, but another one is just feasibility. Many of
the so controled areas are *very* damp meadows where mowing machines could
hardly go without sinking :-)

These rustic cows are adapted to this kind of habitat, with very thick fur,
large hooves (is this biologicaly correct for cows ?).

The use of such cows is many-fold:
- enhance some habitats for ducks, geese, shorebirds;
- prevent the use of machines (it is always a difficult decision to burn
gaz in a threatened habitat, as we, environmentalists, don't stop claiming
that (one of) the cause of all the troubles *is* gaz)
- save (sometimes) the particular race of cows. Many of these rustic races
were not very popular in the last 40 years, because they didn't compete
well in term of meat or milk (you need a heck lot of meat to feed people
like Dennis :-). In some cases, their use in such habitats have been an
important factor for their survival (the same goes for fruits BTW).


--
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A bird in the bush is better than two in the hand.

Serge Le Huitouze Intelligent Software Group
email: serge at cs.sfu.ca School of Computing Science
tel: (604) 291-5423 Simon Fraser University
fax: (604) 291-3045 Burnaby, B.C., V5A 1S6 CANADA