WILDWOOD, Mo. – The Metro West Fire Department is renting 50 goats from Goats on the Go to help with land management for a prairie behind its fire station 3 in Wildwood.

The department has typically rented machinery to control the overgrowth, but it determined renting goats would be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.

“For really invasive species like poison ivy and honeysuckle, they’re really good for that,” said Assistant Chief John Bradley, Metro West Fire Protection District.

The local affiliate of Goats on the Go is operated by Emma Enright.  She said the goats are doing what they love to do.

“They’re able to naturally clean up the area and get rid of those weeds that we might not want necessarily and in an environmentally friendly way,” Enright said.

The goat’s benefits go beyond grazing.

“Their hooves, when they’re walking around, they aerate the soil,” said Bradley.

Enright added, “Their stomachs completely destroy the seed of what they’re eating, so when they leave their little pellets behind, it’s planting a natural fertilizer.”

Bradley said the area where the goats are grazing is also a migration path for monarch butterflies and bluebirds.  He said the goat grazing will allow native plants to flourish.

“We’re stewards of this property,” said Bradley. “We want it to reflect the community that we’re in, and I think this was just an echo-friendly way to do that.”

The department has successfully used goats in the past. This most recent endeavor began a few days ago and the grazing is expected to continue for a few more weeks.

A controlled burn would have been an ideal way to remove the invasive species, but Bradley said that with nearby homes bordering the property, renting the goats was the safer option.