The muffled sound of chomping goats is music to Bio Reserve Manager Josh Cherubini’s ears. This summer, he recruited an assortment of billys, nannys, and kids as part of a pilot program to reduce invasive plant species and overgrowth in the reserve’s 350+ acres of woods, ponds, and fields.
Invasive species outcompete native plants. They grow and reach maturity faster, reproduce quickly, and rapidly colonize areas.
When Cherubini took over management of the property last year, he quickly realized that dealing with invasive plants would be a top priority. Yet his options were limited.
“Chemicals are way too expensive, and manual clearing would take an untold number of hours,” he said. Another potential solution, a prescribed fire managed through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wouldn’t be “available until 2026 at the earliest.”
Goats leaped to the top of Cherubini’s list. “They are quite fond of many of the invasive species we have, like oriental bittersweet, honeysuckle, and multiflora rose.” Goats can work in just about any terrain, and their primary by-product is fertilizer.
Cherubini connected with Goats on the Go, a national franchise that leases the agile ingesters to local governments, conservation groups, and power transmission companies. Local owner Lauren Ross Cain worked with him to target a two-acre plot along a recleared roadway through woods full of goatish delights.
“We bring a hungry herd of goats and a solar-powered electric fence to your property, and you watch them do their magic,” said Ross Cain. “It’s entertainment paired with effective vegetation control.”
Adorable floppy ears and doe-like faces aside, these are hard-working creatures who know their business. Ross Cain leases her flock all over central Ohio. “They know they are here to work — and that means eating,” she says.
Biology Professor Jessica Rettig saw the goats as a great opportunity for a Summer Scholar research project. She brought her team in to see if they could detect differences in tick populations before and after the goats had gnawed their way through the greenery.
The Summer Scholars are collaborating with the Licking County Health Department’s tick survey. “It’s very labor-intensive. We’re surveying every three to four weeks,” Rettig said.
Summer is the peak season for reported cases of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases that are on the rise in Ohio. It remains to be seen if the goats make a significant difference in tick populations at the Bio Reserve. But they cleared two acres in about two weeks, and for Cherubini, that’s a win-win — even if it’s not a greatest-of-all-time outcome.
“We’ll continue to survey, and hopefully we’ll bring the goats in again next year,” he said. “It will take a multipronged approach and several years to get these invasives under control.”
More about managing invasives at the Bio Reserve
Although it’s open to the public, the reserve is “not really a park,” says Bio Reserve Manager Josh Cherubini. “It’s a little more natural, native, and wild, with unpaved trails. The Bio Reserve’s 350+ acres are a treasure trove for students, faculty, and the local community.
Students and faculty conduct research in various habitats, including woods, fields, wetlands, and ponds. Members of the local community and their dogs (on leashes) enjoy the many pathways that meander through meadows and forested regions.
Invasive species are found almost everywhere, “though some places are worse than others,” Cherubini says. Denisonians and members of the local community have reached out to ask how they can help. Cherubini offers these suggestions:
- While enjoying nature in the Bio Reserve, feel free to remove invasives by pulling them yourself. “Some invasives, such as garlic mustard and Japanese stiltweed, are easy to pull. You can just leave them by the side of the path.” A list of common invasive species found in Denison’s Bio Reserve.
- Consider joining a Denison Earth Week project that targets invasive removal. “Even an hour will make a difference.”
- and specify that your gift will support Bio Reserve summer student workers. “Our students work hard to help combat invasives.”
