Rent-a-Ruminant LLC

It was excellent. The program was a success.

Tammy was quick to respond, fair priced, clear, & concise. She & her heard did a fantastic job- going above and beyond a true joy to do business with.

The lady who owned Rent-A-Ruminant called me and said she would be happy to do it. She sounded quite friendly, but her price was a little high for me.

The herd of 60 goats arrived by trailer with their tender. A wire fence was installed around the area that was to be cleared by the goats and then they were let out of the trailer to start "working", or eating in their case. They completed the job in exactly the amount of time that was estimated. The fence was removed, the goats were loaded back in the trailer and they were off. The goat tender remained with them on the property while they worked and there was no added clean up to be done once they devoured the weeds etc on my property. It was a very efficient was of clearing a very steep slope.

Tammy and her goats arrived in a big truck and trailer. Goats were kept in with an electric fence. Very nice lady with clever herding dog. We had a goat watching party while they were here. I wish I had more brush to invite them back.

The goats arrived by trailer, a fence was put up around the area to be eaten and the goats were let out to go to work. Tammy the goat tender stayed on the property w/the goats. They completed the work in the time estimated, and left the property in order.

Tammy's goat and their work did far better than anyone expected. The "treated" areas also responded very well-fewer weeds, healthier grass and slopes. Most effective and fun, too.

Great to work with the owner, Tammy.

Rent-a-Ruminant, owned by Tammy Dunakin, was hired by a large master-planned community to help with vegetation management on certain steep, difficult to reach open spaces in 2009. Prior to the work Tammy was very helpful in describing what could be done, what was most effective on a limited budget, and what to expect. Her suggestions and advice turned out to be prophetic in their accuracy and usefulness. Tammy's goats did most of the work, though they can't do it without her. The herd cleared about six acres of steep open space of weeds, unwanted vegetation (high grass) and tree seedlings over a period of about two-and-a-half weeks. The work was thorough, complete, on time and dramatically exceeded expectations. Tammy was on site throughout so the occasional goat that got loose was quickly rounded up and returned to the fenced-in 'work area'. Tammy was personable with visitors and onlookers (there were many, including the press). Tammy also provided a great deal of professional feedback and suggestions on maximizing the impact of her herd and integrating its work with my contract and paid staff of groundskeepers. An unexpected bonus of the goats were their "show" value as quite a following of onlookers grew to see what they were up to. Nearby residents and even some from well outside the neighborhood came to see what the goats were up to. The entire experience was a huge positive for the community and its open spaces. Work that had been difficult or impossible to contract or manage was handled quickly and very effectively for about 25-50% of the price of human crews, without the attendant noise and risk of injury. All resident feedback was positive and the program was continued for 2010 and beyond.

We built our home in 2000 but didn't get all the lot cleared at that time. Since we had a wooded lot, there were a lot of blackberries that moved into the yard area. We wanted to clear it but it was too huge a job to do by hand and we dared not use pesticides because our lot drains into a couple of streams and then into Quartermaster Harbor around Vashon Island. In addition, I have two grandchildren who play in our yard - NO PESTICIDES! We knew Tammy Dunakin and her enterprise renting out goats to clear blackberry thickets - several of our friends had used her services and since everything on Vashon eventually enters either the Sound or our water supplies, everyone knows not to use pesticides. All of them loved her service and had only good things to say. So we called her, she came to our house within a couple of days, gave an estimate, set a fence, brought the goats, and sure enough - a week later the area had been razed to the ground. All but the largest woody stems eaten very efficiently. Even had some "fertilizer" left behind for a new start! The cost was fair and we felt that we had indeed gotten our money's worth. I have more to do and will definitely call Tammy when we are ready to clear more land to expand our garden.

Tammy Dunakin is very professional and has consistently delivered as promised. The presence of the goats always draws a curious crowd with lots of children. Tammy is great about talking with visitors, educating them about the goats and allowing the children to pet and rub the goats. This is a nice bonus for us as it draws people to the parks to see how we are working to restore the native habitat. We could not be more pleased with the services of Rent-A-Ruminant.

Her goats did not clear the lot as much as she had promised. Also, she gave us a verbal estimate (we were on vacation and never got a written one) and when the final bill came it was twice the price that she quoted! She claimed I was mistaken, but I feel we were misled. It was a terrible experience. I would never use this business again, even though I support the use of goats to clear property. It's a great idea, but I'd use a different company.