At Antrim Park in Columbus, Ohio, the city's parks department has teamed up with Goats on the Go to clear out invasive plants using a small group of goats, reported The Columbus Dispatch.
The program launched in mid-April, when three goats were released into a fenced area while over 100 people looked on.
At least 20 more goats are expected to rotate through different sections of the park as the season goes on, chewing through problem plants such as honeysuckle and garlic mustard that crowd out native growth.
Columbus Recreation and Parks is taking what the Dispatch described as an "innovative, eco-friendly approach to invasive plant removal" by using goats as natural landscapers to help clear unwanted plants without the need for chemicals or heavy machinery.
The event quickly turned into a family-friendly community moment. Zane Davis, 6, and "a big fan of goats" showed up wearing goat horns and a matching shirt, the Dispatch reported.
Other kids got the chance to interact with Ohio Department of Natural Resources staffers who were stocking the nearby lake with rainbow trout, creating the feel of a small outdoor festival.
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Similar goat-powered cleanup efforts have benefited other places in the U.S and elsewhere.
In San Francisco, goats are used to reduce wildfire risk by chomping through dry brush in high-risk areas. And in the United Kingdom, the National Trust has used grazing goats to control overgrowth, restore native plant communities, and boost biodiversity.
There's also a practical side. Goats can get into hard-to-reach places, and they'll happily eat vegetation that's tough or unsafe for people to remove manually. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says using goats for brush control can be a smart solution for managing invasive plants, especially on steep or rocky terrain.
More goats are on the way to Antrim Park in the coming weeks, which will mean more cleared land for native plants to thrive. Watching them in action also brings people to the park and sparks conversations about how to care for public spaces in creative ways.
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Should we be actively working to kill invasive species? Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
Absolutely 💯 For anyone looking to get involved in their community, there are plenty of ways to support local parks, native plants, and cleanups in your area. Taking action can be as simple as showing up or letting an adorable goat do the heavy lifting (or eating).
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