{"id":183,"date":"2021-12-02T21:18:50","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T21:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rvagoatsandhoney.com\/?p=183"},"modified":"2021-12-03T22:50:15","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T22:50:15","slug":"why-was-there-a-herd-of-goats-at-the-university-of-richmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rvagoatsandhoney.com\/?p=183","title":{"rendered":"Why was there a herd of goats at the University of Richmond?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Originally posted by <\/em>WRIC ABC 8News<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) \u2014 If you were near the University of Richmond on Wednesday, you probably noticed goats enjoying lunch on the campus. It wasn\u2019t because a farmer lost their herd \u2014 they were there as part of an environmentally friendly landscape management initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rob Andrejewski, director of sustainability, said goats have been clearing out vegetation on the campus since 2018. While the method was novel at first, Andrejewski said the four-legged lawnmowers do a great job of removing invasive species like porcelain berry, English ivy and Japanese stilt grass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe goats have a voracious appetite and they just eat about everything,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This year, UR rented between 40 to 60 goats from RVA Goats and Honey. Andrejewski said the company provides goats and fencing while the university just keeps an eye on them while they work. The herd can stay for up to two weeks depending on how big the job is.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The goats grazed in the Gambles Mill Eco-Corridor, which serves as a source of stormwater management, stream restoration, native planting and an outdoor recreation trail. Andrejewski said they need to remove invasive species to make room for native plants to grow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBringing goats in is a really wonderful ecological method to do so,\u201d Andrejewski said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goats are part of a three-prong method for removing invasive plants from this part of campus. First, the goats remove a lot of the ground cover, because the animals don\u2019t like to eat too low to the ground. Then, they follow up with mechanical removal to dig out the pants by the roots. Finally, workers follow up with herbicide to kill invasive species that will grow back even if you pull them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrejewski said sometimes there is no way to pull out invasive plants without also taking out natural ones, so they\u2019ll follow up the process with planting. The goats also help prepare the land for this step. He said when the goats go to the bathroom, they fertilize the area. Their hooves also push down on the ground and break up the soil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n