Hundreds of Goats To Feast on Redwood City Foliage

The City of Redwood City is bringing a herd of goats into town to eat the foliage growing by Stulsaft Park. The herd will start munching on the foliage this weekend. 

The plan is to let the goats eat the weeds and other spindly plants that grow under the trees, said Malcolm Smith, communications manager for the City of Redwood City.  

About 400 goats will be transported from Larkspur, California to Redwood City to spend about a week eating the weeds by Brandy Rock Way and Foothill Street, according to Mike Canaday, who raises and trains the goats.  Canaday has been bringing his goats into Redwood City to eat through fire breaks and clear out drainage ditches since 2003.

He said he started his herd with Spanish goats, but now most of them are Boer goats, which are South African in origin.  The word “boer” translates to farmer.

This all-natural approach to eliminated unwanted plants from the environment is growing in popularity on the Peninsula. 

The City of Menlo Park also utilizes goats to eat the shrubbery at Sharon Hills Park every spring, as an environmentally friendly alternative to gas-powered lawnmowers. 

While the goats are in Redwood City, they will be contained with a fence.  Canaday said residents who live nearby don’t need to worry about them escaping and having lawn decorations as a snack. 

“It’s not true that goats will eat anything,” Canaday said, with a laugh. “They don’t eat tin cans, but they will chew on just about anything,” he said.

While most of the goats will have horns, all of them except for one or two, are female, he said. After they’ve finished feasting on the foliage, the nannies will move along with the kids to San Jose.