Grazing goats return to snacking duties in Lethbridge

Without the goats, the Lethbridge River Valley could be teeming with weeds.

These hard-working farm animals are back for another year of crunching, chomping and chewing away at invasive plants.

It’s their eighth year on the job, and the progress is impressive.

“Grazing for leafy spurge is not a one-and-done thing. It’s a multi-year program,” said Parks Natural Resource Coordinator Jackie Cardinal.

The most visible invasive species that the goats are tackling is leafy spurge.

“There were huge patches of yellow blurs, which were leafy spurge. Compared to then and now, it’s probably a 70 per cent reduction,” said goat herder Trent Cahoon.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

The team is no small group. It includes 206 goats, alongside Chance, the herding dog, and Cahoon, their herder.

In just one day the goats can take down — or rather eat up — 50 hectares of land.

It’s an efficient and environmentally friendly alternative to other weed control methods.

“They’ve done a fantastic job over the last eight years,” said Cardinal.

The goats graze three parks throughout the city: Indian Battle Park, Alexander Wilderness Park and Pavan Park.

“Every single site has had a significant decrease of leafy spurge. There are some areas we’re monitoring where we had very dense patches of spurge come down to absolutely zero,” said Cardinal.

Visitors to the parks are welcome to watch the goats work.

“When people are coming along the path, I say just walk through, the goats will make way,” said Cahoon.

Officials do, however, ask that dogs be kept on leash and visitors keep a respectful distance, so the munching mammals can focus on the job at hoof.

“They’re more scared of you than you are of them,” said Cardinal.

These seasonal employees will stick around Lethbridge on and off for the next seven weeks as they make two passes of each park before heading off for a well-deserved break.

The program has received great feedback from the public, and both Cahoon and Cardinal are happy to chat with the public and answer any questions about the grazing goats.