A crew of about 1,350 weed-eaters has returned to Sun City Lincoln Hills, along with the shepherds and guard dogs that accompany them.

There are currently three herds of sheep and goats grazing in the community’s open spaces. Their first visit was in October.

Patrick Shea, executive director of the Wildlife Heritage Foundation, first recommended Sun City officials bring in grazing animals last year. He said the officials are required by a conservation agreement to control exotic, non-native weeds and prevent a buildup of dead grass.

Sheep and goats are the best option for controlling weeds in Sun City, which is too hilly for mowing, according to Shea.

They also weigh less than grazing cattle and will cause less erosion, Shea said.

Lincoln Fire Chief Dave Whitt said goats and sheep don’t leave behind the same mess that mowing does.

“The good thing about goats is when they clear it, they digest it,” Whitt said.

It’s important to control grasses and weeds, Whitt pointed out, because they burn the most easily when a fire starts.

“Some of these areas haven’t burned in years so the fuel piles up higher and higher,” Whitt said, adding that preventative measures make fighting fires much easier.

“When a fire does start in those areas, we can get in there faster, the fire’s not as hot and we can get in there and knock it down,” Whitt said.

Whitt said weed buildup can also be mitigated with controlled burns, mowing or bulldozing but controlled burns require careful supervision, bulldozers indiscriminately level everything and power tools used for mowing can spark fires.

Sun City Executive Director Bob Cook said the cost of grazing is offset by the fact that the community no longer has to pay for specialized chemicals and contractors to control star-thistle growth.

“We spend the same amount of money. It’s just out of a different pocket,” Cook said.

Shepherd Lee Hazeltine, who is in charge of the animals grazing in Sun City, said he can operate more efficiently with a larger property because transportation costs can be reduced.

“In Sun City, we don’t truck them from preserve to preserve,” he said. “We walk them.”

Hazeltine said he’s currently in discussions with 12 property owners in Rocklin and Lincoln who own parcels of land that are close enough to each other to provide him with a large, continuous area to graze. So far, eight have agreed to tentative contracts with him.

Cook said residents responded very positively to the sheep and goats during their first visit.

“We had traffic jams of people going to see the animals,” Cook said. “The residents just love it.”

Hazeltine said he didn’t expect to see such a positive response.

“One resident said, ‘You’re leaving already? But my grandson is coming on Saturday,’” he said.

Sun City resident Gail Spence said while she doesn’t mind the animals, they aren’t as interesting as they once were.

“I’d say the novelty has worn off in terms of people going to watch them,” she said.

There have also been a few serious concerns from residents.

Shea said some residents have been concerned the sheep and goats might be trampling the nests of pheasants or waterfowl. He explained that those birds nest in wetter areas that goats and sheep usually avoid.

“They don’t like to get their feet wet,” he said.

Sun City resident Lois Ekman said she prefers the goats and sheep over noisy power tools but is never sure when she’ll see them.

“If you see them today, they might not be there tomorrow,” she said.

Cook said Sun City receives calls from residents every day asking where the animals are and said the community plans to add a “sheep cam” to its Web site so residents can watch the animals graze in real-time. He said the Web site will also keep tabs on the animals’ location with GPS tracking.

The herds of animals only stay in one area for one to three days, Hazeltine said, and on Monday one of the three herds will leave for a new property: the city’s rodeo grounds, a 145-acre area where weeds are encroaching on wildlife-rich vernal pools.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s official Web site, vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that are home to “numerous rare plants and animals.” They fill with rainwater during the winter and dry up in the spring or summer.

Shea said these pools prevent the use of tractors or power tools to clear weeds so grazing animals are the best option.

He said Sun City’s developer purchased the rodeo grounds and handed them to the city to help offset the natural habitats that were destroyed by the community’s development. The grounds are now protected by a similar conservation easement to the one that governs Sun City’s open spaces.