At MPR: Goats Grazing at Pilot Knob

How the goats of Pilot Knob are helping fight invasive species

MPR The Daily Circuit 11:50 AM · Aug 27, 2014 LISTEN:6min 48secA group of goats has taken up temporary residence in Mendota Heights as a way to fight invasive -- and sometimes natives that are too abundant -- plant species. Twelve goats -- borrowed from the Dodge Nature Center in West St. Paul and Pechacek Farms in Denmark Township -- are spending about three weeks at Pilot Knob Hill, a city-run natural area that includes restored prairie. They arrived last week. Wiley Buck, a restoration ecologist with Great River Greening, helps maintain and manage the restored prairie. Last year, his group brought in horses to help manage vegetation with the hope they'd eat some of the bluegrass to make room for planting more native plants.   Nine dairy goats are part of the herd Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2014 at the Pilot Knob Hill Open Space in Mendota Heights.Read it at MPR