This upcoming week, a team of goats will be hard at work at William & Mary.
Goatworx — an “ideal alternative to heavy machinery and herbicides,” according to the Goatworx website — is coming to the college campus starting Sunday to help clean up the campus landscape.
The Student Environmental Action Coalition (SEAC) at William & Mary has partnered with Goatworx to bring in goats to graze on invasive plants, according to Zoe Nelson, a member of the SEAC.
The goal? Restore the natural ecosystem in the area, Nelson said.
The goats will be grazing on a slope near the Crim Dell Bridge, and will be on campus from Sunday through April 22.
They are expected to be on campus 24/7 barring bad weather, Nelson said.
“If you face the bridge by the Crim Dell and take the path to the right of it, the goats will be on a slope on that side,” Nelson said.
Touching the goats is not allowed, and their grazing area will be surrounded by solar-powered electric netting.
Area residents and students alike can visit the goats from afar and view them from a specific area, which is in a clearing across the Crim Dell.
The viewing area will feature signs detailing facts about the goats and the invasive species of plants they are eating.
The New Kent-based goat business helps manage “nuisance vegetation” for homes and sensitive environmental areas.
The goats graze in residential areas and in places where mowers or pesticides are less feasible like on the waterfront of area rivers, according to Goatworx owner Rick Stewart said.
For more information on the event, visit the Goats at the Crim Dell! Facebook event page.
