A B.C. couple say they’ve found a furry alternative to the lawnmower this summer: a small army of guinea pigs.

Bob York and Ingrid Rice of North Vancouver have turned their backyard into an all-you-can-eat buffet for their six guinea pigs. When the grass in the yard gets long, they let their hungry little fur balls loose and everything is trimmed in short order.

“The neighbours don’t hear the lawnmower anymore,” York told CTV Vancouver.

“They eat the grass, they trim it down, they fertilize,” Rice added. “It looks like a golf course.”

Rice and York have been keeping guinea pigs since 1979 and have been letting them outside to trim the grass for years.

The guinea pig keepers have to cover their backyard in one-foot-high cardboard tents to shelter the guinea pigs from predators while they do their work.

“Their biggest enemy is birds,” Rice said. “When they’re out there they need to be covered at all times, or a hawk will come down and grab dinner.”

York says his neighbours find it odd, but he’s not too concerned about that.