Goats to defend NJ historic site from poison ivy

[dogg57]

SANDY HOOK, N.J. — Eleven Nubian goats from upstate New York are the first line of defense to save New Jersey's historic Fort Hancock from a poison ivy invasion.
The plants have overtaken the Sandy Hook mortar battery that defended New York Harbor during World War II.
Park Ranger Tom Hoffman tells the Asbury Park Press (http://on.app.com/1bMpHvr ) the six-acre site should have been named "Poison Ivy National Monument."
The Sandy Hook Foundation is paying Larry Cihanek of Rhinebeck, N.Y., about $12,000 to use about two dozen goats to clear the site to make it more accessible to the public.
Cihanek says it's the densest concentration of poison ivy that he's ever seen.

 

[manumuskin]

goats will eat anything.I tried to eat poison ivy once,but that is another story:-(

 

[GermanG]

Poison ivy is one of the more valuable plants on the barrier islands. Many bird species feed on its berries, particularly during fall migration. Protecting a few historic structures from it should be no big deal but I wouldn't want to see an attempt at eradication from an area.

 

[GermanG]

goats will eat anything.I tried to eat poison ivy once,but that is another story:-(

It could have been worse Al. You could have used it after you ate!

 

[manumuskin]

I have a friend who has that story. I actually put the plant in my mouth while reading an identification book trying to identify it.I identified it alright and was horrified as i spit it out.My tongue swelled up like a watermelon along with the rest of the inside of my mouth.I had broken a baranch off and was eyeballing the plant while i leafed through the book.I was about 15.
I never wiped with though,that was my trusty sidekicks childhood story.

 

[46er]

You want PI, head over to IBSP, BLSP, or any open lot along the coast. The stuff thrives in those locations.

$12K could have bought an awful lot of RoundUp and the PI would not grow back as it will after the goat pruning; it's your tax money

 

[Gibby]

The goats will probably spread the poison ivy. A better solution would be to tank mix Round-up with Scythe and add a pre emergent to control new growth.

I usually use my loppers to cut a section out of the base of the ivy and then spray the opened section of plant. After a few days the rest of the hanging ivy wilts and is much easier to remove. A large structure covered with the irritating plant can be controlled in the same fashion, leaving the natural process to break down the plants on any structure after they have been snipped and sprayed.

 

[Ben Ruset]

You want PI, head over to IBSP, BLSP, or any open lot along the coast. The stuff thrives in those locations.

$12K could have bought an awful lot of RoundUp and the PI would not grow back as it will after the goat pruning; it's your tax money

Yes, however I don't think I'd like $12k worth of RoundUp running off into Sandy Hook Bay or the ocean.

Sandy Hook has one of the worst infestations of poison ivy. I doubt the goats will be able to get it all off the hook, so the birds will still have plenty to feast on.

 

[Gibby]

Yes, however I don't think I'd like $12k worth of RoundUp running off into Sandy Hook Bay or the ocean.

Ben, glyphosate is a compound so tightly attracted and bonding to soil that there is no need to fear it leaching in water ways. If any does happen to get sprayed into any water, the compound will strongly be absorbed by any suspended organic or mineral matter and then broken down by microorganisms. If anyone should be concerned it should be the male workers because Round-up destroys testosterone.

 

[Ben Ruset]

Definitely sounds like something that I'd want dumped into the ground then.

 

[46er]

Yes, however I don't think I'd like $12k worth of RoundUp running off into Sandy Hook Bay or the ocean.

Sandy Hook has one of the worst infestations of poison ivy. I doubt the goats will be able to get it all off the hook, so the birds will still have plenty to feast on.

It is the product of choice of the environmental groups and the DEP when doing phragmite reclamation work up and down the coast. It was used to reclaim the Cape May Meadows a few years back, now there is more wildlife than ever. There will be mucho chow for the birds, all the goats are doing are pruning it. It will come back thicker than it is now.

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiative...ey/placesweprotect/south-cape-may-meadows.xml