Photo by BAILEY MAHON on Unsplash.
The goats are coming.
Starting on Thursday, Feb. 5, these four-legged livestock animals from Cowtown —260 of them — are scheduled to graze on privet (and thus, control the spread of it) in a prairie near the Bath House Cultural Center.
Privet is an invasive shrub species. These kinds of exotic plants tend to take resources away from natives, which can lead to other ecological problems.
“This invasive shrub displaces native vegetation in the shrub layer thereby reducing resources available for wildlife,” reads an article from Rutgers University New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Environmental Stewards. “Privet grows in dense stands blocking sunlight from reaching understory seedlings and stifling natural forest regeneration.”
The goats are expected to cover about 11.5 acres in a week, portioned out through 1 to 1.5-acre sections per day, according to a City press release. A shepherd will be on site at all times to watch out for the goats.
If you’re at the Bath House between 10 a.m. and noon Feb. 5, you might be able to catch a peek of the animals’ arrival.
A similar effort was rolled out last fall in North Dallas. You can read more about that here, but if you do go out to see the goats, keep this guidance from Dallas Park and Recreation urban biologist Chris Morris in mind: “It’s not a petting zoo. The goats are government-contracted employees. They’ve got a job to do.”
