LEBANON — The Lebanon Recreation and Parks Department will begin employing goats and sheep on Tuesday to help combat poison ivy in the city’s parks.
“We have battled poison ivy every season,” said Krissy Flythe, recreation coordinator, who is overseeing the project. “It’s recognizing that we need to find a better way to attack it.”
The goats and sheep are from Lovejoy Brook Farm in Andover, Vt., and on Tuesday will move between Riverside Community and Civic Memorial parks, Basin Field, and on the Mascoma River Greenway, near the public art sculpture Wheels, Flythe said.
About two to six will be overseen by herders in fenced-off areas with the greatest concentrations of the plant, and they will be moved once the poison ivy is eaten.
“We’re not going to have that many out there, but they’re going to be working hard,” Flythe said, adding that they currently plan to use the animals once a week. “Depending on the progress and how hearty eaters they are, we’ll go from there each week to see.”
Poison ivy’s complex root system makes it difficult to pull from the ground, Flythe said, and it also grows fast. The department regularly gets calls from people informing them about poison ivy in the parks.
“We know that the goats will eat to a certain point in the poison ivy and the sheep will take care of the rest, but they don’t eradicate it,” Flythe said.
The new method is part of the department’s goal to not use herbicides and chemicals in order “to lessen our impact on what we do in the city,” Flythe said.
For example, the department uses compost fertilizer instead of chemically treated dirt in the fields.
“We want folks to enjoy any of our green spaces without worrying about where they’re sitting or if their dog is eating the grass,” Flythe said.
People are welcome to watch the goats and sheep work but must not interact with or try to pet them, as they are working animals, Flythe said. Dogs must be kept on leashes, and people should make sure they are not blocking trails if they stop to look at the goats.
“It will be cool to see them doing their thing,” Flythe said. “Our hope is folks are happy to hear we’re trying something new out.”
Liz Sauchelli can be reached at esauchelli@vnews.com or 603-727-3221.
Correction
The goats and sheep being used by the Lebanon Parks and Recreation Department to eat poison ivy are from Lovejoy Brook Farm in Andover, Vt., and are part of the business Gypsy Girls Goat Grazing. An earlier version of this story misidentified where the animals are from.
