The goats will be back at Police Point Park next week. - NEWS FILE PHOTO
ktaniguchi@medicinehatnews.com@kellentaniguchi
The goats are back in town.
For the second year in a row, Police Point Park will be welcoming back goats to help control the spread of an invasive weed species called leafy spurge.
“The goats are eating an obnoxious weed that has been spotted in Police Point Park and other areas, but it is an eco-friendly weed management practice,” said Justine Bolen, park interpreter. “So, having them eat these particular weeds is kind of an on-going project. Last year was its pilot project, so we want to keep them coming back for the next say five years to keep eating this particular weed.”
This year, the park will be offering four goat gazing nature walks with group sizes of up to 18 Hatters.
“The interpretive program is trying to incorporate some goat gazing nature walks to either go watch the goats, observe them in action because they’re actually working when they’re down here,” she said. “Explore the park, see what they’re doing, touch on the weeds that they’re being directed to mow chow.”
Bolen says last year they had a lot of positive feedback, lots of questions and lots of people popping in to check out the goats. With all the interest last year, the Interpretive Program thought it would offer some hikes to inform visitors what the goats are here to do.
It’s not only bad if the leafy spurge spreads across the grassland areas, but Bolen says it’s also unhealthy for other animals to eat.
“This particular plant is really not good for other grazing animals. It’s got a milky substance and all that fun stuff in it that’s not good for them,” said Bolen. “The goat’s digestive system can handle it and when they poop out the seeds and whatnot, they’re not viable seeds. So, even when they do disperse of them, they’re not going to keep re-seeding in that sense.”
The goats are scheduled to arrive in the Hat on June 26 with the first walk at 7:30 p.m. The other three walks are scheduled for June 27 at 9 a.m., June 28 at 7:30 p.m. and June 29 at 9 a.m.
Bolen says anyone interested in attending one of the walks to register by calling 403-529-6225 because space will be limited. She adds they will be doing some “off-road” hiking and she encourages people to be prepared to go off trail, through the bush and to not bring dogs or strollers.
