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| Photos Linda Davidson/The Washington Post |
Goats mow down weeds and grass on the exterior perimeter of Congressional Cemetery. Cemetery officials hired about 100 goats from the Maryland-based business Eco-Goats to eliminate poison ivy, other vines and ground cover while fertilizing the historic property.
D.C. animal control officer Ray Noll watches as goats are released on the exterior perimeter of Congressional Cemetery. In the next week, the goats are supposed to eat more than an acre’s worth of poison ivy and English ivy, which are imperiling the historic cemetery’s trees and endangering the gravestones.
Onlookers and journalists watch as goats eat foliage at Congressional Cemetery. The public is encouraged to visit the project, the first of its kind in the region, which runs until Aug. 12.
A goat feeds on grass at Congressional Cemetery. Instead of using chemicals, the cemetery decided to take a green approach to curbing aggressive plant species that threaten mature trees in the cemetery’s wooded area — trees that if killed could fall into the burial area and damage historic headstones.
For the cemetery, the $4,000-a-week cost of employing the goat herd — which grew to 55 after 30 goats arrived in the afternoon — could solve an expensive problem. The more ivy that smothers trees, the heavier the trees get and the more susceptible the become to crashing down. The ivy’s leaves also can interfere with the trees’ photosynthesis, killing them.
The Goat Gorgefest is the latest tactic in the cemetery’s effort to upgrade its image. Until at least the late 1980s, the cemetery was overrun with weeds, dead trees and drug users, said Paul Williams, the president of the Association for the Preservation of the Historic Congressional Cemetery, which leases the site from Christ Church of Washington.
A goat stares at the crowd. Initially spooked by a herd of reporters and photographers, the goats eventually got to work gorging on unwanted vines.
(The Washington Post - Aug 7, 2013)
