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Alpaca guard dogs in Berkshire and other crazy animal jobs
Image source, Getty Images
A farm in Berkshire, England, were so fed up with foxes trying to get their Christmas turkeys they have taken drastic action.
Copas Farm in Cookham have hired a team of fierce guard alpacas to protect their festive fowl.
The animals were first introduced in 2016 to protect the 24,000 birds.
Before the alpacas came along 160 turkeys were lost to foxes in a single year, but since the alpacas took the job that figure is now zero.
The farm told the 大象传媒: 'We now have 10 beautiful boys at our farm and are on the lookout for more friends to join them.'
The goat mayor
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In an unusual turn of events, a goat has become the mayor of a small US town, beating a dog to the title.
The three-year-old goat called Lincoln was up against 16 other animals in a tense battle to become Fair Haven's mayor.
He beat Sammie the dog by just three votes.
During his time in office, Lincoln will be expected to attend local events, such as marching in the Memorial Day parade.
The mayoral vote was organised to raise money for a local playground. Fair Haven residents could nominate their pet as mayor in return for a $5 entry fee.
This has all 'goat' a bit too much for me, so take our quiz and then take a look at some of the other animals with unusual jobs.
If you cannot see the interactive activity on this page, click here.
Finn for mayor
Lincoln isn't the first animal to run for mayor, not by a long way!
Finn the Australian cattle dog ran his campaign in a small Canadian town, St Johns, back in 2017.
Finn had a bit of a 'ruff' ride during the campaign but you can see him being interviewed about it above.
Dolphin mine squad
The US navy have been using dolphins to detect underwater mines for decades.
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Bottlenose dolphins were chosen to search for mines underwater because of their sonar, high intelligence and underwater vision.
They were especially useful during the Cold War.
Robots are now starting to replace the dolphins. The machines can also be manufactured more quickly, as it takes the dolphins seven years to train.
Gardening goats
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If his career as mayor fails, Lincoln could always become a gardener.
A goat's ability to eat pretty much any plant is being put to good use across the globe.
For example, in 2017, a Japanese apartment complex used some goats to keep the grass around the building nice and short.
Goat-aly unbelievable, isn't it?
Rat sweeper
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In countries like Mozambique, Cambodia and Angola, rats are trained to find land mines that have been buried in the ground.
A land mine is a bomb put under the ground and set to go off when someone puts their weight on it.
The rats' little feet are too light to set off the mines.
They wear a small harness which is attached to a cordoned-off minefield. The rats then dart back and forth, sniffing.
When they smell a mine they freeze and make quick scratches on the ground to signal where it is so it can be removed.
Treasure hunters
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A truffle pig is a pig that is used for hunting a type of edible fungus called a truffle.
Truffles are worth a lot of money, costing more than 拢120 for really rare ones.
The pigs have such a good sense of smell they can sniff out a truffle even when it is buried a metre underground.
Truffles are found buried between fallen leaves and soil in the forests of Europe and North America.
The truffle pigs are trained to hunt as they walk on a lead through the forests with their owner.