'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
Spring allergy season has begun. Where is it worse in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
'Nonsense:' Doug Ford slams lawsuits filed by Ontario school boards against social media platforms
Premier Doug Ford says that lawsuits launched by four Ontario school boards against a trio of social media platforms are “nonsense” and risk becoming a distraction to the work that really matters.
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Record-breaking N.B. lottery winner kept winning ticket on dresser for nearly a year
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
Multiple bridges in Calgary shut down for police incident
Calgary police have shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers deal with a distraught individual.
King Charles calls for acts of friendship in first public remarks since Kate's cancer diagnosis
King Charles III gave public remarks for Maundy Thursday, addressing the importance of acts of friendship, following his and Catherine, Princess of Wales’ cancer diagnoses.
A dog and a bird formed an unlikely friendship. Their separation has infuriated followers
Peggy is a stout and muscular Staffordshire bull terrier, and Molly is a magpie, an Australian bird best known for swooping on humans during breeding season, not for befriending dogs. But in an emotional video posted online, Peggy’s owners announced that the animals had been separated.
Tipping is off the table at this Toronto restaurant
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 mm among weather alerts in effect for 7 provinces
Rainfall warnings of up to 90 millimetres, air quality advisories and other alerts have been issued for seven Canadian provinces, according to the latest forecasts.