The goats will be back this spring and summer to tackle leafy spurge at Police Point Park. -- NEWS FILE PHOTO
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
The goats will be coming back this year.
After two rounds through Police Point Park to tackle leafy spurge, a team of goats will be brought back twice more this year.
City parks technician Keziah Lesko-Gosselin says she is excited to bring the goats back.
“We don’t have confirmed dates yet, but we do know that the Creekside Goat Company is coming back to do another round of attack on the leafy spurge,” she said. “We’re going to be working with their schedule, but we will be sure to announce dates well in advance.
“I think they’ll be here in the spring and then later in the summer.”
Like last year’s visits from the goats, people are encouraged to go and watch the animals do their work from a distance. Lesko-Gosselin says she is hoping there will be more opportunity for interpretive programming this year.
“Because of COVID, we couldn’t really do the programming we had wanted to,” she said. “I’m really hoping we will be able to this year.
“There’s always room and opportunity for learning, and there’s a lot to learn about these animals.”
After the two tours through the park last year, Lesko-Gosselin went out and assessed the job the animals did. After that, she determined they should be brought back.
“They really did an amazing job,” she said. “We went for a walk through the park and it was incredible to see how much of the weed was just gone.
“Bringing them back for two more weeks will continue to keep the leafy spurge population in check.”
Lesko-Gosselin added that the feedback from the community was overwhelmingly positive.
“At least 99 per cent of what we heard was positive, if not more,” she said. “Everyone really enjoyed the goats and we encourage people to go out again this year and see them.”
