Kansas City, MO – Some hungry workers have been brought in to help clear weeds and invasive plants from a park in Lenexa, Kansas. And it's a pretty cute idea.
The Lenexa Parks and Rec department is working to prevent flooding at the Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, and has hired a goat rental company to help clear it out. Senior project manager Tom Jacobs says this is the first time they've tried the goats.
“Initial research indicated that it’s actually a little cheaper to use the goats than it is to put in the same man hours," says Jacobs.
Jacobs says the goats will take a couple of weeks to clear out roughly 2.5 acres of weeds and invasive plants. He says the goats stay away from the native grasses, instead focus on munching on thick leafy plants, and tuck into poison ivy and bush honeysuckle.
It looks to be a win-win for all involved. The goats get to eat, and Jacobs says paying them to do the job saves the city money.
“If we’re all done and there’s no problems that show up that we didn’t anticipate and they’re doing equally as good a job and it truly is cheap, well, then it kinda makes sense to keep going," says Jacobs.