Goats make appearance at Police Point Park

150 of them are in Medicine Hat’s Police Point Park for the next week as the city explores a natural way to control weeds.

Parks Technician Keziah Lesko-Gosselin says, “As we’re using goats we don’t have to use pesticides. They do a number on the plant, leafy spurge, in particular, is really difficult to control. But goats just annihilate it and they’re really effective.”

She says for long term weed maintenance, the grazing goats are much more efficient.

The owner of Creekside Goat Company Robert Finck says the animals will be rotating throughout the park.

And they’re with a shepherd 24/7.

“They’ll graze most daylight hours. They’ll take a little bit of time off in the afternoon and shade up. But other than that they’ll graze at least 12 hours a day.”

Finck says the herd will be back in 6 weeks when the weed grows for the second time.

Their other stops this summer include Lethbridge, Calgary, and the Blood Tribe Reserve.

“We’re not spraying herbicides, we’re not down in the river bottoms where it comes to regulations. We’re able to fill a niche that is difficult for a lot of people to do. So we’re never against herbicides they can for sure cover more country and do more but we’re just another tool.”

The goats also deal with fire mitigation in the fall to reduce winter and spring fires.

“There’s such an issue with so many weeds and so many groups now are against the herbicides and the spray that it just seemed like the perfect business to put together.”

Finck encourages families to visit the goats from a distance throughout the week.

by Chantal Wagner

Goats make appearance at Police Point Park

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