A growing number of businesses are renting herds of goats to gobble up invasive species and other weeds as an environmentally-friendly alternative to spraying herbicides.
Shown in this picture is Veronica Cassilly, owner of the Harmony Herd in Harford County. Towson University recently hired her and 17 of her goats as a weed whacking crew. Their mission: to devour an invasive species of plant -- English Ivy – that was smothering a forested stream valley beside a dorm on their campus just north of Baltimore.
“The problem is we have so many invasive plants now, and they are growing like crazy,” Cassilly said. “Goats are the most sustainable way to get rid of all these invasive species because you don’t have to worry about (herbicide) spraying, you don’t have to worry about runoff into your creeks. You don’t have to bring in heavy equipment, which is going to disrupt your forests.”
The goats at Towson University drew a crowd of curious students. The animals appeared to enjoy not only eating the invasive vines, but also posing for selfies with the students.
“I think it’s really crazy,” said Yariza Guzman, a senior, as she and her friends used their iPhones to snap photos of themselves with the goatscaping crew. “You would think Towson is very city-like place. But then I heard goats were on campus, and I was really confused. I was like, ‘really?’
Really. Rent-a-goat businesses are popping up all over the country and advertising their services to gobble up invasive species and other weeds. Listed online are companies including Eco-Goats Inc., Rent A Ruminant LLC, Vegetation Solutions, and Goat Busters. (You know their theme song already: “Who ya gonna call?...”)
Boston this summer hired goat busters to clear poison ivy, Japanese knotweed, Asiatic bittersweet and other undesirable weeds from public parks and other land. So did a suburban Chicago park district, a Frederick County, Maryland suburb, and a cemetery in Washington, D.C.
In some places, goat rental rates starts at $200 to $400 per day for a dozen or so animals.
Some people even rent goats as natural lawnmowers. But if you try this, the website Goatworld – an invaluable resource for goat renters – cautions that goats do not produce smooth putting greens. Goats eat the grass but often leave behind large, spindly stalks that they find unappetizing, for whatever reason.
Also, if you are drinking the milk of your rental goat, Goatworld warns that you may get a poison ivy rash inside your throat and stomach if you use the goats to remove poison ivy.
So, a word to the wise about multi-tasking with your milk goat. Just say nay.
Ironically, poison ivy is not an invasive species in North America, although goats are. That is, if the goats escape and breed.
To prevent goat runaways (or, as they are technically known, goats on the lam), herders at Towson University and elsewhere use portable electric fences to keep the goats on small squares of weedy property that are being targeted.
Towson Biology Professor Jim Hull explained the goats have a real advantage in removing invasive species. They tend to be more hardy than volunteer work crews of students – which he tried to use to remove the English Ivy from the school property.
“We started by taking the ivy off the trees, which worked,” Hull said. “But then we needed to go to take the ivy off of the ground, and students ran into yellow jackets, which started stinging them. And so once that happened, I decided we needed to rethink this.”
And the new thinking is: hire goats.
