Not 'kidding' around, herd of goats put to work in Upper Darby

Saturday, August 22, 2020
Not 'kidding' around, herd of goats put to work in Upper Darby
Not 'kidding' around, herd of goats put to work in Upper Darby

UPPER DARBY, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- A town in Delaware County found an effective and unique way to trim up the landscape. That way is using goats and the goats are hungry for more.

"Here we goat again," the thought on the minds of many at Gillespie Park in Upper Darby, Delaware County.

21 goats on-site to do a job, that machinery could, but let's face it, wouldn't be as fun.

They belong to Bruce Weber whose family runs Amazing Grazing LLC.

"It's a great way to tackle the invasive without destroying the native landscape," Weber said.

City leaders agreeing to bring them out to a green way to clean up the weeds to bring back some views residents have been missing.

"Apparently residents we're coming out in the past, they were able to see the creek from their houses, over there right now they can't because of all of the overgrown weeds and everything," said Upper Darby Township President, Laura Wentz.

Why goats? Well, they also eat a lot of the poisonous stuff that human crews could probably deal with, but this makes it much more manageable.

"It's just experience of doing it and look the acreage and figure how many it takes," said Weber.

While there are critics of the project, especially on the heels of trash delays and sidelined works crews during the pandemic, city officials say for a moment at least, this can be enjoyed by all.

"It's positive thing in today's environment," Wentz said.

It'll take them two to three days to put a dent in the vegetation. Then it's on the next job.