News from King County Department of Transportation
Release date:  June 1, 2007

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.”