LANCASTER, N.Y. — Como lake park's four legged employees worked hard to clear one acre of Japanese knotweed and poison ivy. Goats spent the past month eating 10 to 15 feet tall plants along the shore in the park.
"I love them. They're so cute," 5-year-old Annabelle Backlas said. She enjoyed visiting the goats as they spent the days working. Her mom did too, but for different reasons.
"Poison ivy was the biggest thing for me. I was glad that that was gone because having a five year old, I'm always so worried that she's going to be getting into that. I don't need a five year old with poison ivy," Kate Backlas said.
Jennifer Zeitler, the owner of Let's Goat Buffalo, managed the hungry animals from the beginning of June until now.
"This was a pilot project. It was kind of a one month project to test the efficacy, how the public responded, how the goats did, how much land was cleared and by all accounts it was a great success," Zeitler said.
The goats were previously used for milk. This is their second career.
"When I would run here, I've noticed, but I didn't realize it was the goats actually doing it. It's amazing that they could make so much of a difference while they were here," Backlas said.
Erie County has planned to keep goatscaping as an environmentally friendly option to clean up the parks on the table, declaring this experiment a success.
