Campus Goats

Have you HERD the news? During the summer of 2017, campus rented a herd of 40 goats as a pilot program to cut back invasive species! The goats were here for roughly 20 days and grazed two areas in Memorial Park.

Why were there goats on campus? Goats graze all day and can go through up to a quarter acre a day of dense material per 30 goats Our goal is for the goats we brought on campus (40 in total) to cut back on (by eating) invasive species such as invasive honeysuckle and garlic mustard

Where were the goats? They were located in a two acre area southwest of Greenwood Cemetery in Memorial Park

What are invasive species? In Executive Order 13112, invasive species are defined as “an alien species whose introduction does or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health” In layman’s terms, it’s a species that’s in an area it isn’t native to that’s then harming the area it was introduced to

Why do we care about invasive species? They harm native species by overtaking areas and competing for shared resources They can cause the extinction of both native plants AND animals!

Where did you get the goats? The goats were rented from Green Goats LLC, out of Monroe, Wisconsin We are hoping campus may be able to develop our own goat herd in the future so that we can continue to manage our many acres of open space in a cost- effective and environmentally friendly way

So why don’t we just use chemicals? Though applying chemicals would be a faster solution, they would cause just as many environmental problems as they would solve! Using goats to control invasive species like invasive honeysuckle and garlic mustard is a much more environmentally friendly way of getting rid of the problem without permanently damaging any native plants and without putting dangerous chemicals in the soil or into the water table!

What about the goats’ safety? Goats are used to living in harsh conditions (think rocky mountain tops) Our goats have access to shade, water, and plenty of food; when they run out of greens o eat, we will move them to a new location Goats are kept in this safe space by the electric fence, and potential predators are kept out by that same fence

How did the goats do? Dr. Yari Johnson of the Reclamation Department conducted weed transects. He assessed vegetation before and after the goats and found that the goats ate about 95% of the vegetation.  They cleared all brush of leaves up to the height of the largest goats (about 6 ft).