No kidding: About 150 goats take to Austin hike-and-bike trails to rid areas of poison ivy
Joggers and walkers on Austin's Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail this month shouldn’t bleat when they notice hoofed visitors in the shrubbery.
About 150 goats will be living around Lady Bird Lake for the next three to four weeks, but these animals aren’t kidding around. The Trail Conservancy, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the hike-and-bike trail’s 300 acres, has hired the goats to eat poison ivy and other unwanted brush in an environmentally friendly practice that has become more common nationally.
On Wednesday morning, Kyle and Carolyn Carr pulled two large trailers filled with goats up to the hike-and-bike trail near Austin High School. After setting up a temporary barrier around a section of woods, the Carrs backed up the trailer’s opening to the fenced-off area. The goats charged off and began to feast.
The hope is that the goats will clear up the poison ivy in areas that are particularly challenging for humans to get to, said Heidi Anderson, CEO of the Trail Conservancy.
“Poison ivy is something we are just chronically going to have to deal with,” Anderson said.
Poison ivy, which causes skin rashes and could cause allergic reactions, is a big problem along the trail, Anderson said.
However, goats can eat poison ivy without any problems. “It’s work smarter, not harder,” Anderson said.
During their three- to four-week stay along the lake in Austin, the goats will move to different areas over 15 acres, said Grady Reed, parks operations director with the Trail Conservancy.
The goats are starting in front of Austin High east of the Texas Rowing Center and in an area near Holly Street, Reed said.
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Brush management via goats is a growing phenomenon in the state and nation, Reed said. Park managers in Houston and San Antonio have used goats to manage brush, and the practice is common in national forests, he said.
The goats will eat down any unwanted vegetation, and anything the animals eat that is wanted will quickly bounce back, especially after Reed’s team mulches, plants and does other trail maintenance once the goats have finished their job, he said.
“It creates an opportunity window for us to get in and seed,” Reed said.
Standing outside the trailer before releasing the goats onto the trail, Carolyn Carr patted the back of a brown goat named Romeo. All the goats have names, she said. When they’re not eating shrubbery for clients, they live on the Carrs’ ranch in Brownwood.
Carr and her husband, Kyle, own Rent-A-Ruminant Texas, a state branch of a national franchise, and they have been working in landscape management with goats for seven years.
“They can go into terrain that isn’t safe for humans, isn’t safe for equipment,” Carr said.
The goats are friendly, but people shouldn’t try to pet them while they’re on the trail, because they will be covered in oils from the poison ivy they’re eating, Carr said.
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No part of the trail will close to accommodate the goats, Anderson said.
“This is a spectator sport,” Anderson said.
The Carrs also keep their goats behind a mesh electric fence, to keep them from wandering off. The goats must go through training before they’re ready to work.
“They have to respect the fence,” Carr said. “They have to stay as a herd, not beg for food with the public.”
The goat brush clearing service will cost between $2,500 to $3,500 per acre, but the exact number of acres might vary by the end of the project. The money was donated by Abacus Plumbing, according to the Trail Conservancy.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Over 100 goats hired to rid Austin hike and bike trails of poison ivy
