Let’s Goat Buffalo!

There I was taking a walk, stretching my legs, problem solving in my head when I came upon a sign, that at first I thought to be a joke. Mind you, what it said was the last thing I expected to read in this park. It said:

I’m referring to the “Goats At Work” sign.

Suddenly that is when I saw this sign was not a joke. For before my dumbfounded eyes off to my left, I did see goats who I was informed were there for one purpose …. to eat invasive species especially poison ivy and Japanese Knotweed. This park opted not to use Roundup (Happy Dance!) and instead is using a trial run of munching loving goats who do what they do best …. eat.

[People are waking up! We just can no longer use chemicals on a planet that is truly suffering the consequences of them. Most people who came to see these goats expressed that they too are impressed with this company. One man said, “Our planet is in trouble. It goes, we go.”]

Of course the day I was walking, I did not have my cameras with me. No pictures were taken that day but this is when I decided to come back the following day to start an adventure you are about to read. When I arrived the next day I was taken aback by the progress these goats made. They can eat and I mean they can eat! That day and the following two days, I documented the progress of these goats.

But first let me introduce you to these weed killing munchers. The six heroes of this story are:

Olga

Helcha

Meeps

DeeDee

Craps

Oprah

 

Como Lake Park has a huge problem on their hands, mainly that an invasive species called Japanese Knotweed is destroying native plants. Some areas are so thick with this weed even these goats are not able to gain access. The owners of these goats, Sean and Jen, are hopeful that where their goats can munch, an entire acre within the month of June will have been eaten. From what I’ve seen, I believe they will attain their goal.

To give you an understanding of this herculean undertaking, here are a few pictures of the area planned in this venture. All along this creek bed, these goats hopefully will have eaten their way through within the month of June.

The enclosed fenced-in area where the goats are, was eaten within 3 days. Remember we’ve had a lot of rain here and they do not eat when it rains. Look closely. Where you see stakes to the left of the area these goats finished, parallel to the creek, is the start of phase two of the munching spree.

 

Here is another picture to give you an idea what these owners are up against. That is a jungle!

 

A lot of what you see, minus the trees, is Japanese Knotweed.

 

The owners are the only ones at this point putting up the all the fences and taking care of the goats. At times their young son pitches in to rake up what is left behind after the goats are finished in one area. Friends, my hat is off to Sean and Jen and young son. This is a lot of hard work, sweat and exhaustion.

Sean and Jen putting up the next portion of the fences. Everything in this picture is Japanese Knotweed.

 

Sean attempting to spray his goats with an all natural insect repellent. I did get a good laugh, however, because just like “kids” the goats did not cooperate and ran from the spray.

 

When I returned on day 2 of my adventure, what I saw was unbelievable. What was once dense Japanese Knotweed, was now cleared out by those goats. Amazing! Keep that in mind when you view the next few images and gallery .

Before phase 2.

 

The start of phase 2.

 

Less then 24 hours later, these goats cleared out phase 2!

 

This picture and the next were taken when the goats just were led into phase 2 of this project. The vegetation is so thick you can barely see the goats.

Helcha is completely engulfed with vegetation.

 

If you ever see a sign like this ….

 

… know that there are goats around happily munching on weeds. What I found fascinating was that everything goats chew, sterilizes that plant so that it cannot grow back. Sean and Jen, who own their own company called Let’s Goat Buffalo! have to be admired for they not only care about the plight this planet is in, but they are also doing something about it. Hope has been lit in my Heart!

Thank you, Sean and Jen and young son, and all of your goats!! Bless you for your efforts!!!

I am sending a link for this post to Sean and Jen’s email. I would SO appreciate it if you left encouraging comments that they can read. These two very special people are so deserving of others who cheerlead them on. Thank you!

Further Viewing and Reading:

www.goatbuffalo.com

Buffalo News

WIBV.com

WGRZ.com

WKBW.com

 

Photography/ “Let’s Goat Buffalo!/ June 2019©AmyRose
http://www.herladypinkrose.wordpress.com