NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Goats will be back at Police Point Park in a month and a half or so to tackle more leafy spurge.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
There’s nothing like a good sequel and while it may be tough to pull one off, Return of the Goats is bound to be a good one.
The super team of goats first came to the Hat on June 26 with the goal of tackling leafy spurge around Police Point Park.
After more than a week at the park, the goats were able to clear quite a bit of the weed.
“They should be back in about a month and a half, depending on the company’s schedule,” said parks technician Keziah Lesko-Gosselin. “The goats did a pretty good job in the open areas of the park and got to work on some of the side trails as well.
“I’m going to be heading to the park for before and after pictures – from what I’ve seen, they’ve done a great job.”
After one go at the weeds, the goats did well, but the job is not finished.
“It’s going to take a couple visits for them to clear out the park,” said Lesko-Gosselin. “They need a few tries at the park to get to the weeds as best they can.”
This type of weed control is called target browsing, and it offers the goats a chance to eat a weed they love to eat.
While it’s fun to see the goats working at the park, the method of controlling the weed is highly effective, says Lesko-Gosselin, because the goats pass the seeds after they’ve consumed them.
After Police Point is finished, Lesko-Gosselin says she would like to see the goats tackle other parts of the city.
“I think Echo Dale would be a really good location for this,” she said. “I think some of the environmental reserve areas would really benefit from this as well. It’s really difficult for us to do weed control in those spaces.
“I think they’d be great for just about any park in the city.”
When the goats return, people will once again be allowed to go out and see them from a distance.
Lesko-Gosselin is encouraging people to take photos of the goats and post them on social media, and to tag the city in them.
“If you like the goats and want to see them come back, let us know,” she said.
