On Saturday, June 10, a group of unusual visitors will arrive at Vaughn’s Branch in Cardinal Valley. The hope is that when they leave in about three weeks, the place will never be the same.
The herd of visitors, expected to be about 15 in number, are the four-legged kind called goats and are coming to feast on bush honeysuckle and other invasive species that have overtaken the area adjacent to the Oxford Circle shopping center.
Vaughn’s Branch creek is a tributary of the Wolf Run creek watershed.
The project, which will include return trips from the goats this fall and again next spring, is to clear the area so it can be used as passive recreational space with a butterfly garden waystation and trail connectivity to Preston’s Springs and McConnell Springs. The cost is being covered by a $12,500 Water Quality grant and $3,642 in matching funds. Eventually, the hope is to populate parts of the area with native plants.
The goats will arrive at 11 a.m. and be released into a temporary pen, where they will be blessed by Pastor Ken Menefee of the Harvest Worship Center Church. After the blessing, the goats will be released into a fenced area along the stream banks and start their work.
“The public is welcome to come to Oxford Circle on Saturday for the blessing and the release into the pens,” says project coordinator Paula Singer. “We hope there will be other opportunities for the public to see the goats at work, but we do not have specific dates or times. Since the goats’ enclosure will be protected by a very ‘hot’ electric fence, the public will not be able to get close to the goats at work.”
Vaughn’s Branch isn’t the first time goats have been used to clear brush in Lexington. The city hired another company to clear a section of Idle Hour Park in 2018.
Singer suggests those Interested in the project join “The Goat Project - Vaughn’s Branch at Oxford Circle” Facebook page for event announcements and volunteer opportunities.
