The City of Elk City is creatively solving an overgrowth problem for property owners near a local waterway. A herd of goats has been imported to eat the vegetation that's grown in and around Elk Creek.
Many years ago, the City placed large rocks in Elk Creek to prevent erosion, but abundant spring and summer rains have stimulated abundant grass growth around those rocks.
“Though the City doesn’t own the creek property, we want to help eliminate the overgrowth problem there,” said City Manager Tom Ivester. “Since using mowing equipment near the rocks is impossible, and since having City crews try to hack away at grass and weeds among the rocks by hand is both impractical and dangerous, we went a different direction.”
That direction was east.
A herd of 80 goats from Arkansas was rented, temporary fencing was placed around Elk Creek, and the goats were deposited there to mow the lawn the old-fashioned way.
As the goats finish their two-week grass-eating assignment in town, Ivester is looking for local goats to continue the experiment.
“If you live in or near Elk City and have some, we’d like to hire your goats to continue eliminating the creek vegetation,” Ivester said.
If you’re a goat owner interested in renting your herd to the City of Elk City, call 580-225-3230.