Plant-eating goats help maintain, protect Novato property

By Matt Dolkas, Senior Manager, Marketing

July 15, 2024

Matt Dolkas, of West Novato, naturally has concerns about potential wildfires that could affect the 20-acre property he co-owns with his wife, Kate, and his parents, Dave and Karen.

He has a secret weapon, though, or rather nine of them: a herd of ready-to-go weed-eating goats that regularly reduce the wildfire fuel on his acreage.

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It’s embarrassing to admit, but for the past few years I’ve been actively pretending to be a cowboy. I start most mornings with Toby Keith’s “Should’ve Been a Cowboy” playing on repeat in my head. It started with wrestling goats — learning to manage a small herd on our twenty acres just north of San…

Plant-eating goats help maintain, protect Novato property

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