Have you seen these bad guys?

They may be pretty, but they're up to no good

The thing about noxious and invasive species is that they don't play well with others. They can be harnful to pets and humans. They choke out the botanical variety that is meant to be in the North Country, and that has downstream effects on wildlife, habitat for outdoor enthusiasts and the beauty of this area. The good news is that goats and sheep like to munch on some of these baddies, all while amending the soil with nutrients, distributing native seeds, stirring the soil to reduce compaction AND they're fun to watch. They're our superheroes!

Noxious Weeds

Poison Ivy

Causes itchy rash from contact with leaves. "Leaves of three, let it be." Can be a climbing vine, small plant or shrub.

Poison Sumac

Similar to Poison Ivy. Grows as a bush in wet areas.

Wild Parsnip and Poison Hemlock

Wild Parsnip in foreground and Poison Hemlock in background. Both cause photosensitive, painful skin rashes.

North Country's Most Wanted

These are the most common terrestrial invasive species in our area.

Bittersweet

While this vine has beautiful orange berries, it chokes out American Bittersweet, which is supposed to be here! It also chokes out trees and smaller plants. the vines can be hard to remove, UNTIL a goat chows away all the foliage!

Buckthorn

This tree can grow up to 20 feet tall and is very dense, crowding and stealing light from the understory. The berries will turn black closer to fall, but they are not tasty for native birds and wildlife. Larger buckthorn will need to be taken down with a chainsaw once the goats to their job.

Knotweed

AKA Japanese Knotweed or Giant Knotweed, this bamboo-like plant can take over an area quickly. And it can be difficult to treat, even with chemicals, until our goats have done some damage. May need repeated grazings, and repeat grazings are discounted!

Reed Canary Grass

This guy grows from rhizomes underground, just like his buddy knotweed, and can grow 10 feet tall, hindering views and stealing sunlight from shorter plants. May need re-grazing.

Burning Bush

This one is all our fault. Burning bush was introduced as a landscape plant, then it escaped and stared taking over forest floors. Unfortunately, goats can't help with this one, since burning bush is toxic.

Wineberry

Yes, you can make jam with it. But it grows so fast that you'd be making jam forever to control it. Good news! Our goats don't even need us to can it for them before they nom nom this into the history books.