Forget herbicides: goats control weeds in New York park
NEW YORK - A park in Brooklyn has rented a quartet of goats to control weeds and unwanted vegetation in an ecologically friendly way.
The Nubian goats, Horatio, Eyebrows, Minnie and Hector, can be seen grazing along a berm separating Brooklyn Bridge Park and the traffic heavy on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.
Rebecca McMackin, director of horticulture at the organic park, said using synthetic herbicides wasn't an option and goats were the most logical, adorable and fun alternative.
"They can manage the hills, no problem. They eat the weeds and then translate that into nutrients for the berm, so the plants are getting fertilized and they select out the weeds from the grasses," she explained.
The adolescent goats were rented for the summer from Green Goats, a goat farm in Rhinebeck, New York, which specializes in the use of goats for landscape restoration and maintenance.
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