Animal grazing is the ideal answer to achieve the “zero plant care chemicals” goal recently adopted by France, but also other European countries spaceman like Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands. By entrusting landscape maintenance to herbivores, public authorities and private owners are in a win-win situation (see our article on the benefits of animal grazing). But which animals can be used to mow grass, and what kind of grazing do they prefer? To guide your choice Christophe Darpheuil, stockbreeder and Director of local Lyon association Naturama, helps us with his expertise in this alternative landscape maintenance method.
Animals of all sorts live together in various ecosystems. Within these natural communities, the animals eat specific diets that connect them together in a food chain. The three diets of animals include creatures that eat only plants, those that eat only meat, and animals that eat both plants and meat. Animals that eat plants exclusively are herbivores, and animals that eat only meat are carnivores. When animals eat both plants and meat, they are called omnivores. The balance of an ecosystem depends on the presence of every type of animal. If one type of mahjong animal becomes too numerous or scarce, the entire balance of the ecosystem will change.
Carnivores will feed on herbivores, omnivores, and other carnivores in an ecosystem. A natural community depends on the presence of carnivores to control the populations of other animals. Large carnivores include wolves and mountain lions. A large carnivore might hunt down large herbivores such as elk and deer. Medium-sized carnivores include hawks and snakes, and these animals typically feed on rodents, birds, eggs, frogs, and insects. Examples of small carnivores include some smaller birds and toads. These carnivores may eat insects and worms. Carnivorous animals have strong jaws and sharp teeth to enable them to tear and rip prey. These animals often have long, sharp claws that they also use to tear prey. Carnivores depend on sufficient prey in the food chain to give them the food they need. If the herbivore population or the population of other carnivores declines in an ecosystem, carnivores may not survive.
With a diet comprised of only plants, herbivores can be surprisingly large animals. Examples of large herbivores include cows, elk, and buffalo. These animals eat grass, tree bark, aquatic vegetation, and shrubby slot88 resmi growth. Herbivores can also be medium-sized animals such as sheep and goats, which eat shrubby vegetation and grasses. Small herbivores include rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels, and mice. These animals eat grass, shrubs, seeds, and nuts. An ecosystem must provide abundant plants to sustain herbivores, and many of them spend the majority of their lives eating to stay alive. If plant availability declines, herbivores may not have enough to eat. This could cause a decline in herbivore numbers, which would also impact carnivores. Herbivores usually have special biological systems to digest a variety of different plants. Their teeth also have special designs that enable them to rip off the plants and then grind them up with flat molars.
DEER, THE CROSS-COUNTRY CHAMPIONS
Public authorities like the Psychotherapeutic Center in the Ain, France, can also adopt deer. An original choice which makes it possible to maintain the 1-hectare green space and, at the same time, contribute to the wellbeing of the Centre patients who live there day after day. Provided grounds are not polluted or wet, deer have no problem in mowing sloping green spaces. Their reproduction capacity, however, requires big green spaces and culling to avoid overpopulation and the propagation of diseases. Deer also have to be fed hay during the winter and initially can be difficult to get near.
GOATS, HILLY AREAS EXPERTS
Ideal for small sloping, irregular green spaces or undergrowth, goat races like Ditches, Rove or Poitevine are excellent brush cutters. They work very quickly but love to munch on decorative shrubs as well as fruit and ornamental trees. They are a good complement to grazing sheep when there are several layers of vegetation to maintain in green spaces! However, they are also experts in escaping! They have to be checked on every day to make sure they are still there!
CATTLE, BIG RUMINANTS FOR BIG SPACES
Much bigger than goats and sheep, cattle are ideal animals for the maintenance of big, flat grounds like marshy zones which do not fear trampling. The Salers race, or (very) hairy Highland Cattle are appreciated for their folksy attractiveness. Easy to supervise, cattle do not try to escape. Nevertheless, these animals are much more difficult to transport than sheep and goats. Although their manure is quantitatively imposing, it does little to enrich the soil which their presence damages
