In England, some wallabies work for food

We've published a couple of items recently about the use of goats to handle landscaping duties at the Norman J. Levy Park & Preserve in Hempstead, Long Island, and at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

These goats have some yard-care cousins in England, in the form of wallabies, which are basically small kangaroos. In "Home-Grown Wallabies Hop in to Help Gardeners Keep Their Lawns Trim," The Times of London reports today that people with enough space and a lot of grass to maintain—and at least a 5-foot-high boundary to keep the leaping landscapers from bounding away—have turned to this native of the Australian Outback.

Demand has reached the point that one longtime wallaby breeder can't keep up with demand. "To be honest, if I had 100 I could easily get rid of them," Trevor Lay told The Times; he sells about 35 a year now. The wallabies cost around $230 for a male and four to five times that for a female. (Rare albino wallabies are considerably pricier.) Since wallabies are social animals, they're sold in pairs. That way they'll always have a partner when cutting the grass.—Steven H. Saltzman | e-mail | Twitter

Essential information: If you have a small property and are looking to eliminate mower emissions at your home but don't want to tend to a menagerie, consider using an electric lawn mower. Read about mower-exchange programs in which you swap an old gas mower for an electric model. For the latest news on lawn mowers and tractors, read our May 2009 story (report and ratings available to subscribers) and check out our mowers/tractors buyer's guide.