'How can you not love goats?': The unsung heroes of summer in Lethbridge are back
The City of Lethbridge is once again calling on a herd of goats to help clean up Alexander Wilderness Park and Indian Battle Park this summer.
Aside from looking cute and cuddly, the goats, owned by the Creekside Goat Company, actually serve a huge importance.
They love the taste of weeds and are helping to rid Lethbridge of invasive species such as leafy spurge, wormwood, thistle, crested wheat grass and brome grasses.
"When we're done, the park looks pristine and nice and the weeds are gone, but you can't tell the impact that they've been there," said Creekside Goat Company owner Robert Finck.
"Being that it's all natural, we don't have to spray any herbicides and you're still able to have a safe environment so people love it."
Lethbridge weed goats, June 11, 2021
The clean up crew is made up of over 200 goats who, with the guidance of herd dogs, will be working away in the city's parks until August.
While these dogs are generally friendly, the city is advising residents not to pet the dogs while they’re working and to keep their own dogs out of the area.
A similar grazing program has been successful in Calgary where herds have been able to control invasive weeds and manage and manage vegetation.
It's an industry that seems to be trending upwards with demand growing each year.
"We're in most of the major cities in Alberta but when you come to other parks and private ranch lands, there's a lot of room to manage weeds," said Finck
Elsewhere, baby goats are serving a much different purpose.
The petting zoo at the Lethbridge Corn Maze is back in business and after a successful first year last summer, so is the goat snuggling venture.
"People came out last year and they loved it. But, we had more demand than we had goat supply, and the goat got too big towards the end so we had to quit," said Lethbridge Corn Maze owner Theo Slingerland.
Lethbridge goats, June 11, 2021
"This year, we started a bit earlier and we also started breeding our herd a little bit different. So, we spread out our breeding program so we'll have little baby goats for the next couple of months."
Hour-long snuggling session with baby goats can be booked online for $30 and a portion of the proceeds is donated to the Lethbridge foodbank.
More than $1,100 was donated last year and it looks as though this year will easily surpass that total.
"How can you not love goats? You really can't complain with cuddling some goats, man. Especially these little baby guys," said one customer.
Goats are known to be very social animals that love to interact and play with people.
But be warned, they also tend to enjoy a good nibble on shirts and hair.
With files from Quinn Keenan
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit the federal carbon price on natural gas, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.