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August 15, 2017

Edmonton is truly the GOAT

All-natural weed control includes animals

Written by Jeff Samsonow

photo: City of Edmonton

It’s probably going a bit too far to say that Edmonton using goats to tackle weeds is the greatest moment in the city’s history, but it’s gotta be top 10.

As part of the movement away from spraying herbicides on public property, the City of Edmonton hired Baah’d Plant Management and Reclamation to bring in their herd of weed-eating goats. The goats are taking care of weeds in Rundle Park this summer. They’re eating Canada thistle, leafy spurge, common tansy, common burdock, yellow toadflax and even dandelions. The goats have been trained to eat these weeds in particular.

The Baah’d goats have been doing this kind of work for a little while.

The first round of weed-eating in Edmonton was back in July. After a break, the goats are back for an August snack. They’ll return in September too.

And don’t forget about the dogs in charge of the herd. Goat puppers!

Since you’re not really supposed to bother the goats while they’re working (behind an electrified fence) the City has two public opportunities to meet the goats. The first one is Saturday, August 19. The goats will again be posing for selfies and eating your shirts on Saturday, September 23.

If you’re all like “Heck that, I want to play with the four-legged weed-eaters any time I want!” then you’ll want to drive a littler further northeast and check out the sheep cutting grass up in Fort Saskatchewan.

This is actually the 25th year Fort Saskatchewan has brought in a herd of sheep to cut the grass in downtown parks. And, yes, you can interact with them while they work.

Unfortunately, you still can’t have a herd of goats or sheep cut your lawn. Yet.

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