BY DUCK PATERSON
Folks driving along Walkem Road last week could be forgiven for thinking maybe they had taken a wrong turn and had ended up in the countryside.
What they actually saw was a herd of goats that had been hired by the homeowner to clear a boulevard that had become totally overgrown by ivy, broom, small maples and other unwanted vegetation.
On Aug. 10, Natasha Murphy, from Vancouver Island Goatscaping, brought in 13 goats along with fencing and let the herd get to work.
B次元官网网址淭he goats are helping clear the unwanted vegetation on the slope outside the clientB次元官网网址檚 home,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭he goats will likely be done in this area in a few days, and I check in on them and their progress and reassess.B次元官网网址�
Murphy said goats like to eat shrubs and weeds, making them well-suited to invasive plant species management and brush control. Goats can work near water, climb slopes, and are environmentally friendly as they aerate and fertilize the soil, and passers-by love to see them roaming.
B次元官网网址淭his type of land management has been around for a very long time in Europe, we are now seeing more herds in the States as well as a few starting up here in Canada,B次元官网网址� Murphy said. B次元官网网址淚 hope that this type of land clearing will become even more popular in the near future.B次元官网网址�
Asked what kind of plants the goats feed on when they are B次元官网网址榦n the job,B次元官网网址� Murphy replied that the main target species at last weekB次元官网网址檚 contract included English ivy, big leaf maple and thimbleberry, as well as some grass species and other shrubs.
B次元官网网址淪hiny-leaved plants like laurels and rhododendrons can harm goats and so I make sure to avoid or fence off those plants, as I have done here,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淏racken fern are not good for goats to consume too much of, the client here kindly pulled the bracken fern from within the target area here, which was great. Stone fruit trees can also be toxic to goats.B次元官网网址�
Murphy got interested in using goats as an alternative method of clearing invasive species of plants while studying ecological restoration at BCIT, and got the chance to herd about 350 goats on horseback in the Okanagan.
B次元官网网址淚 definitely had the coolest project of my cohort. At dayB次元官网网址檚 end, I would set up plots and collect data for my masterB次元官网网址檚 research project in the evenings,B次元官网网址� she said.
Murphy stated she has bottle raised all of her goats and so they are fairly easy to handle. At the home farm, when the goats arenB次元官网网址檛 on the job, they get forage as well as free-feed hay, and minerals and supplements.
Town of Ladysmith staff said they hadnB次元官网网址檛 received any complaints about the goats, and some council members had a positive response but indicated they would be interested in further information.
For more information about Vancouver Island Goatscaping, e-mail vigoatscaping@gmail.com.
READ ALSO:
