The city just hired 50 goats to combat invasive plants. We have questions

Fifty goats will spend today noshing all-you-can-eat-style at the Don Valley Brick Works Park. After a successful pilot project last summer, the hoofed heroes are back, heading up the city’s counter-attack against invasive plant species. We have questions.

What threat level do these invasive plant species represent? Invasive plants have been laying waste to green spaces over the past few summers. The worst of the bunch is phragmites, a giant weed species believed to have arrived in North America from Europe some time over the last decade. Phragmites plants are the ultimate rude party guests: they show up, consume all the food and drinks allotted for the other guests (read: native plant species), and suddenly you can’t get rid of them. Left unchecked, they grow into dense, impenetrable plant walls, and pretty soon wildlife like deer, raccoons and coyotes have to relocate. (These poor Ontario coyotes can’t catch a break.)

We couldn’t just solve this problem with a professional-grade weed whacker? In some environments (say, roadsides), mechanical interventions are effective, but in wetlands and urban meadows like the Brick Works, tractors and lawnmowers can’t always handle the terrain. Some other bonuses: zero carbon emissions, no noise pollution and no need for chemical herbicides, which can be harmful to native animals and vegetation.

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So goats really are the GOAT when it comes to invasive species combat? Let us count the ways. For starters, their hoofs are ideal for maintaining balance on an incline. Unlike deer—the food snobs of the forest—goats will eat almost anything, and their particular side-to-side chomp patterns allow them to tackle even the woodiest weeds. And then there’s the matter of their magical poop: an enzyme in goats’ saliva neutralizes plant seeds in their stomachs, meaning they don’t spread after they’ve come out the other end.

Are these goats specially trained? Yes, and for the sake of goat labour laws, please note that the goats themselves are not employed by the city. Their boss is Ian Matthews, a former Toronto mortgage broker who took over his dad’s farm. His business, Goats in the City, rents out the flock of trained eco-ungulates to municipalities, companies and even private citizens. Their current gig at the Brick Works ends today, but anyone who wants to see these four-legged warriors in action can visit between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.