Goats are becoming a tool of choice for some North Carolina residents who want to beat back invasive vines without relying on chemical sprays.
On private properties and city land alike, the animals are being used to chew through hard-to-control plants such as English ivy and kudzu, opening space for healthier vegetation to return and for the native plants to thrive.
What’s happening?
Raleigh homeowner and environmentalist Nina Szlosberg-Landis recently used that approach after English ivy spread through her wooded backyard, as reported by WUNC. She hired a herd from Stephen Paul, who runs Goats on the Go Raleigh-Durham.
This was the perfect all-natural solution for Szlosberg-Landis, who had promised the old homeowners to protect the land on the property by avoiding the use of artificial chemicals. A herd of 20 goats cleared the area in four days, WUNC reported, eating the ivy and other invasive growth down to the ground…