OK, I don’t want to get these goats in trouble, but the first time I caught sight of them near the Interpretive Center in Liberty State Park, they were literally lying down on the job. One was even relaxing on a bench. All she or he needed was a cold beverage and a book.
They’ve been hired by park officials to eat the weeds. More precisely, “to help us clear out invasive plants in upland sections of the natural area.” Thank you, Deputy Superintendent Jonathan Luk. “After Hurricane Sandy and other storms over the last couple of years, invasive plants started to take over the area and affect the ability to use the upland hiking trails.”
After the goats have eaten their designated dinner, the section will be restored with native plants.
Lori Garth is the park’s resource interpretive specialist. “Some of the invasive plants that the goats will be removing are white mulberry, tree of heaven, Russian olive, tartarian honeysuckle, porcelain-berry, and mugwort,” she says. “Our restoration plan includes the following species: white pine, red cedar, American holly, serviceberry, bayberry, and lowbush blueberry.”
Why not just bulldoze the place? “We wanted it to be environmentally sustainable without machines that use gas,” Luk says. “Heavy tires through the area would cause more destruction.”
And humans? “The area has lots of thorny bushes and poison ivy, so it would be difficult to send people in.”
Luk describes his workers as a “diverse group of goats.” One is known to be 11 years old. They don’t have names, except those the visiting public gives them.
Luk reprimanded me for accusing his team of lying down on the job. “They start eating early in the morning,” he says, “and eat the vegetation until they can’t anymore and then they take a siesta.”—Kate Rounds
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