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A popular trip of local goats from Vahana Nature Rehabilitation will be returning to Idlewild Park on Monday, July 12, 2021, to help continue to manage invasive plants.

Weather permitting, the goats will dine at Idlewild Park from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The natural invasive plant management will once again be in partnership with Vahana Nature Rehabilitation and Columbia Outdoor School.

Back in May, the goats started clearing one of three priority areas around Idlewild Lake, focused on the Priority 2 zone, between the new wetland area and the lake. Their latest adventure will have the goats again munch on the Priority 2 zone and begin grazing in the Priority 3 zone in the wetland area of the park.

Park users are asked to watch for signage when the goats are on site. The City strongly recommends that dog owners avoid the priority areas of Idlewild Park altogether while the goats are visiting. All dogs must always be on a leash and under control at Idlewild Park, as well as the City’s other green spaces. The only exception is at the Muriel Baxter off leash dog park.

The ongoing partnership with the City of Cranbrook, Vahana Nature Rehabilitation and Columbia Outdoor School could lead to a larger long-term project based on the goat treatments. Together with the City, the Columbia Outdoor School has been working on a larger invasive plant management strategy for Joseph Creek.

Additional information about Vahana Nature Rehabilitation, visit their website at www.vahana.ca.

For more about the restoration projects of both Idlewild Park and Joseph Creek, visit www.restorejosephcreek.com.