Metro gives goats a spin for weed control
Those won’t be four-legged commuters at the Metro’s Tukwila Park-and-Ride this weekend. The herd of 250 goats scheduled to show up on Sunday is actually a "crew" hired to help the transit agency tackle some thorny weed-control issues.
 King County Metro Transit has contracted with a goat herder from Eastern Washington to assist with vegetation management at the Tukwila
Park-and-Ride on Interurban Avenue and at Metro’s East Base in Bellevue.
The goats, shepherd, and dog assistant are expected to arrive here this weekend. They plan to begin mowing down the tall weeds on the hillsides in Tukwila this weekend and finish up on Monday. They will then move to East Base, where they will spend three to four days chomping on blackberries and other weeds. At each location, the herd will be controlled within a portable fence.
These two sites have been difficult for Metro to maintain due to steep hillsides and uneven ground. The goats are a more efficient way to control the weeds, and will reduce the risk of injury to the human staff.
"The areas that these goats will be grazing on is difficult terrain for our personnel to work on," said Jerry Rutledge, Metro’s manager of Power and Facilities. "It’s often a safety hazard for our staff to work on these sites, whereas the goats will be much more at home."
Text transcript of video
<<Sounds of goat bleating>>
Goat Herder Craig Madsen Says:
They eat about 3 percent of their body weight, so you're talking
about four or five pounds.
Narrator Says:
They in this case are 270 goats.
So what are they doing at King County Metro's East Base in Bellevue?
They’re doing what comes naturally; eating, sleeping, and helping Metro out in the process.
Shepherd Craig Madsen and his four-legged crew were hired by Metro to help control vegetation at East Base, and also at the Tukwila Park & Ride.
Madsen says he gets curious and positive reactions everywhere he takes his herd.
Goat Herder Craig Madsen Says:
People are curious to see the animals and they're fun to watch, the young ones especially, if there's a rock to play on, they'll play 'king of the mountain', so people just like watching them, and they don't get the opportunity to see that many goats, in a Park & Ride or in Tukwila or other places around very often.
Narrator Says:
To keep his herd confined during their charge to find chow, Madsen takes this portable electric fence along with him.
The task of maintaining both sites has been a challenge for Metro crews because of the rough terrain, steep hills and uneven ground.
As for the goats, this type of terrain makes them feel right at home.
Goat Herder Craig Madsen Says:
It works better in some places than others, especially if it's steeper slopes and some of the more difficult access sites, it works real well at, if it's flat and things like that it might be easier to use equipment, so yeah, they're a good tool, in terms of figuring out which areas are the best for theme to be used at.
Narrator Says:
Furthermore, much of the vegetation around East Base and the Tukwila Park & Ride is just what goats like.
Goat Herder Craig Madsen Says:
A goat's preference is more for what they call browser, brush and shrubs and broad-leafed plants, I mean they'll eat the grass, but it's not their preference, if it's lush and green and growing they'll eat it real well, but once they get more mature they'll the shrubs and other stuff before they'll eat any grass.
They eat for a while, then they'll lay down, chew their cud, and once they've got that worked through, they'll go out and eat some more (laughs).
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