AUSTIN, Texas — The Trail Conservancy is trying out a creative way to get rid of poison ivy on the Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail, and it involves animals. They're bringing in 150 goats this summer to eat all the invasive plants along the trail.
"The goats are permanent residents on the trail for the next three to four weeks,” said Heidi Anderson, CEO of The Trail Conservancy. “It's going to be adorable."
Aside from the goats looking adorable, they can eat just about everything, including poison ivy.
"It's a really innovative and creative alternative to some of the other tactics we could use to eradicate poison ivy like controlled burns, which affect air quality or chemicals which affect water quality in the lake,” Anderson said.
But these aren't your average goats. All 150 of them have been trained to work.
Carolyn Carr, co-owner of Rent-a-Ruminant Texas, has been training her goats for the last seven years to help eat invasive plants that aren't safe for machinery or people.
"They have to maintain their work ethic, so they have to go to work,” Carr said. “That's what their job is here."
PHOTOS: Goats clearing harmful plants across Austin
The goats will stay in portable electric fencing and will have volunteers watching them 24/7. After the goats have eaten the poison ivy in the area, The Trail Conservancy will return to mulch the areas and put in native plants.
Carr has another 400 goats in training back home at their ranch in Brownwood and an additional 100 that are retired. But even though they're working animals, Carr has taken time to name them all based on their personalities.
"I really do look at the goats, I look at their mannerisms,” Carr said. “Like we have one, his name is Beckham, and when he was a little baby, he would do kicks. And I call it 'Bend It Like Beckham,' and so that's how he got his name."
And these goats have already caught the attention of some trail users.
"Our first thought was like, ‘Did we miss this yesterday?’ But then our second thought was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, this is so cool,’” Mike McGown said.
McGown and his wife are visiting from out of town this week and said seeing the goats on the trail was an extra bonus for their morning walk.
"If you can use goats to get rid of poison ivy, I think that's a win-win for everybody,” McGown said. “It's win-win for the community. It's a win-win for the animals. I mean, it's a win-win for tourists like me as well as for people who live here on the regular."
The Trail Conservancy is hoping to get more funding for this program so they can bring it back when needed after the three-to-four-week program wraps up this summer.