Twenty-five goats are munching their way through an overgrown Vancouver park for the next two weeks to remove invasive plants that mowers can’t reach.
It’s the first time the city has hired goats for labor, and if it proves an effective option, the four-legged brush clearers could be employed for future gigs, said Vancouver Parks Planner Monica Tubberville.
“We’re all excited. We think it might work well,” she said Tuesday. “I’m curious how it works and how it might … apply to other properties.”
The herd of adult females and babies arrived Wednesday evening at Raymond E. Shaffer Community Park, a 10-acre undeveloped natural area the city acquired from the county in 2014. The park lies on the north side of Northeast 58th Street between Northeast 76th and 81st avenues near the Vancouver Mall.
Eventually, it will be brought into the city limits through annexation, Tubberville said.
The goats belong to West Side Goat Girl of Woodland, which is renting the ruminants to the city for about $4,700. They’re supervised at all times by their herder, company owner Casey Brewer, who stays in a small travel trailer in the park. During the day, the goats follow Brewer around as she chops down blackberry brambles so they can reach the soft vines and leaves. (They don’t eat the woody canes, Tubberville said.)
Although the park is surrounded by chain-link fence, additional temporary fencing has been installed to keep the goats within specific areas. The branches of many of the mature trees hang to the ground, preventing mowing underneath where blackberries, English Ivy and laurel grow, Tubberville said.
Normally, the city would use licensed, certified sprays to kill the invasive plants, Tubberville said.
The goats, she said, are “a green option to see if we can do it without the sprays, or limit the amount of sprays, and limit the amount of physical labor necessary.”
Why not just use prison inmates to do the work? Parks and Recreation Director Julie Hannon said the city has trouble always filling up corrections crews.
“Because there is so much underbrush on this site and a lot of it is pretty difficult to access, this could prove more effective,” she said Thursday. “At this point, that is what we are studying.”
One bonus to using goats: They fertilize as they go. They’re also quiet and can access sensitive areas such as steep slopes, wetlands and water retention ponds, according to Goat Girl’s website, www.sauviegoats.com.
The park will be closed to the public while the goats are there. People are welcome to watch through the fence, but there’s no guarantee they’ll be able to see anything from that vantage point. They’re asked not to feed the goats.
In approximately two weeks, West Side Goat Girl will hold a free petting zoo for the public to meet the goats on their last day at the park. To get updates on the goats’ progress and find out when the petting zoo will happen, contact Tubberville at 360-487-8353 or Monica.Tubberville@cityofvancouver.us.
