Let Them Eat Grass: Paris Employs Sheep As Eco-Mowers
City officials in Paris are experimenting with an unconventional way to keep urban lawns trimmed.
Agnes Masson used to be simply the director of the Paris city archives. Now, she's also a shepherdess of sorts, responsible for four black sheep munching the lush grass surrounding the gray archives building at the eastern edge of the city.
Masson says the ewes are efficient and easy to care for.
"We don't have to do anything — just look after them to see if the four of them are always together," Masson says. "They have to be all together; if one is out [of] the group, it seems she is a bit depressed."
The sheep are on loan from the city of Paris, which keeps livestock for agricultural schools. The sheep don't need gasoline, so they're ecological as well as cute to look at. The droppings from the sheep also encourage biodiversity by drawing insects, which in turn attract birds to the area.
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