A goat at Hatch'em Acre nibbles on a Christmas tree. Dec. 27, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
FOX CITIES, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — With the holidays behind us, you may be wondering what to do with your Christmas tree.
In the Fox Valley, there is no shortage of people looking to take them off your hands. That even includes some animals.
“It has a lot of vitamins, a lot of nutrients. They love to scratch on it at the end of the time it’s been used,” Shana Beach, Owner of Hatch’em Acre said.
Beach collects dozens of old Christmas trees each year. She’ll happily take them at her Kaukauna farm to feed her many goats. The only requirement is the trees must be clean.
“They don’t have any chemicals on them or anything like that,” Beach said. “No tinsel. We’ll take them because it’s good for them. It’s a great de-wormer and it’s something for them to be entertained by over the winter while it’s cold and yucky out and there’s nothing much else to do.”
If you’re on the opposite end of Lake Winnebago, The Little Farmer will also accept your old trees. They use them to feed cows.
And on the lake, old Christmas trees can be an aid for getting around during the ice fishing season.
“We put one every 16th-of-a-mile and they’re a safety deal for the fisherman,” Don Herman said. “So if you ever go out on the lake and we have our roads plowed and you see the tree leaning one way, that means that’s toward shore.”
An experienced ice fisher himself, Herman said it’s a helpful tradition that goes back decades.
“I’ve been doing it since 1974, so 48 years we’ve been using Christmas trees,” Herman said. “Even if you have GPS, the ice can change, so we lay down trees if we have a bad spot. We lay trees so people can stay away from it. So they’re still used quite a bit for safety.”
And there are even more choices all around Northeast Wisconsin. Appleton’s Bubolz Nature Reserve will accept trees for its upcoming winter survival program.
So, whether it’s anglers…
“Before GPS, that’s how people got around on the lake — it’s an old fashioned GPS,” Herman said.
Or goats…
“She knows — she knows what to do. Just to eat up and enjoy,” Beach said.
There is no shortage of groups looking to take what would otherwise end up in a landfill and put it to good use.
Comments