DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The goats at the De Pere Greenwood cemetery aren’t there for leisure, they’re on the job.
“The cemetery can’t mow or get to the steep bank down to the river. So, the sheep and goats can run right along there.”
Ben Robel is the Owner of Vegetation Solutions, a company that rents livestock for vegetation removal.
In this case, he tells FOX 11 it’s an invasive species called Buckthorn.
“Buckthorn doesn’t have a natural predator. It’s from Europe. There’s nothing to eat it, or control it from spreading.”
The plant has taken over the banks of the Fox River belonging to the cemetery, away from the main graveyard.
It just so happens the cemetery hired the perfect four-legged animal for the task.
“The Buckthorn is more nutritious than the grass,” said Robel.
“They’ll go after what’s the most nutritious plant first. So, they will eat Buckthorn before grass.”
He says the animals provide an environmental-friendly way of ridding the invader.
“It’s chemical-free, a natural way of controlling vegetation. With being so close to the river, the residue of a chemical would just run-off into the river.”
Robel says it’s not a long process.
“In a few days, they’ll have this completely denuded, all of the vegetation.”
And while it may not be something you see every day. Robel says it’s simply another way of managing unwanted invaders in your yard.
