Oct 20, 2009 6:08 am US/Eastern
Corps Of Goats Enlisted At LI Park To Combat Vines
GREAT NECK, N.Y. (CBS) ―
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A goat feeds on weeds and grass.
AP
It's a case of animal assistance on Long Island. But this time, it's not man coming to the rescue of our four-legged friends.
Goats are doing the heavy lifting … or rather, the heavy eating.
Two dozen goats have been called in to combat a big problem in Great Neck.
About 25 miles east of Manhattan -- but a world away -- a boisterous battle is being waged inside a Gold Coast community park.
The secret weapon: 25 grazing goats with voracious appetites are helping to save 175 acres of public parkland.
"We came up with an environmental solution since goats like it and we don't. It seemed to be perfect equation," Great Neck park enthusiast Elizabeth Allen said.
Goats will eat just about anything, including thick thorny weeds known as cat briar. It was Allen who first spotted the choking vines as they invaded miles of family hiking paths and cross country skiing trails.
"If you look to the right, you can see the devastation of cat briar," Allen said.
The park is a protected wetland -- no chemicals are allowed to combat the killing cat briar. So Great Neck park officials got creative.
"Bringing the goats in, yes, environmentally, it is a wonderful way to deal with it. In a green way, without using chemicals or pesticides," said Neil Marrin, superintendent of the Great Neck Park District.
Saving so many acres would be costly and parks commissioners didn't want to burden taxpayers during the recession. Instead, they asked the White House for help.
Eleven AmeriCorps volunteers descended on the preserve. As they dig up the roots, the goats munch the prickly green stalks.
Taxpayers here have been spared thanks to federal stimulus dollars. The goats cost $2,500. On the other hand, a private contractor would cost much more.
"At minimum it would have cost $100,000 or more," said Congressman Gary Ackerman, D-Long Island and Queens. "The cost of AmeriCorps -- the beautiful part of it is that Congress has appropriated the money for it."
And park lovers say they are thrilled the sound of a leaf blower, mower and weed whacker has been replaced with "baaaaa" for six weeks.
Now other suburban districts who also call themselves environmentally progressive tell CBS 2 HD they too are considering bringing in goats to control weeds without chemicals, and to save their village workers' overtime expenses.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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