By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Weed-eating goats return to Piper Creek Gardens

Jul 19, 2018 | 1:34 PM

Goats are back and they could be coming to a park near you.

On Thursday, Piper Creek Gardens on the city’s south end played host to 400 of the four-legged lovers of noxious weeds.

The goats, which first turned up in Red Deer last summer and fall, were hired by The City once again to come and munch up as much Canada Thistle and Yellow Toadflax as possible in 24 hours.

“I’d also like to use it in parks throughout the city. There are a lot of different areas where we could use this weed management approach and we’re working with bylaw to make that happen,” says Ken Lehman, Ecological Services Operations Coordinator. “You could use it wherever as long as it is a permissible thing. We could use this is in pretty well any park in town.”

Lehman adds that using the goats from Baah’d Plant Management to help mend the riparian area at Piper Creek Gardens is in line with The City’s Environmental Master Plan, which aims to reduce the use of herbicides and pesticides.

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“It’s a great tool to use that is ecologically sensitive, but also the way they open up the ground with their hooves, and when they defecate, there are no viable seeds,” Lehman explains. “It just makes sense on so many levels. It’s economical and it’s great to use something that was on this site originally because we would’ve had animals that grazed through this area.”

The cost of City employees hand-picking the area would cost between $10-$15,000. The cost of bringing in the goats is estimated at less than half that figure.

The City is bound by the Alberta Weed Control Act to maintain the area around Piper Creek Gardens.