This week will see the arrival of a small herd of goats who are moving into their new home at Hengrove Mounds and there will be a chance to say “hello” at a Meet and Greet session this Saturday, 25 March.
We are thrilled to welcome these furry, four legged grazers on site as part of a partnership project between urban goat farming collective Street Goat and Avon Wildlife Trust’s My Wild City.
My Wild City, working with Bristol City Council, focusses on eight Local Wildlife Sites across the city, including Hengrove Mounds and Hawkfield Meadow. These wildlife havens will see improvements for nature and visitors, and help reconnect communities with the nature on their doorsteps.
Why are the goats at Hengrove Mounds?
Without grazing animals, grassland habitats like the Mounds become overgrown with brambles and trees. As the goats munch away, they are encouraging a greater biodiversity of wildflowers to grow through in the late spring. Goats are excellent at tackling brambles and scrubland. The way they browse, not eating right to the ground, leaves a mosaic of vegetation, providing perfect over winter protection for a range of insects and small mammals. They also live happily with foxes, badgers, and deer, and are quite light on their cloven hooves so don’t trample much underfoot.
Bristol City Council, with the help of Street Goat and the local community, maintain wildlife areas like Hengrove Mounds for the benefit of its wild (and human!) visitors through natural methods.
We’ve seen the benefits of having grazing goats as part of our strategy for managing our green spaces for nature with the goats currently at the Gun Battery in Stoke Park Estate. They’ve been successfully maintaining this area for the last 3 years each spring, increasing the numbers and diversity of flora and fauna found there.
In a recent survey by Street Goat Most residents commented on about how the goats brought the local community together, noting that they chatted to people they otherwise would not have. Children encouraged parents and carers out to see them, both learning about the care of animals and the landscape around them.
Ian Barrett, Chief Executive of Avon Wildlife Trust who worked with us to set up the Wild City Project says, “Grazing animals, like Street Goat’s goats, are brilliant at maintaining scrub and grassland areas in a way which promotes biodiversity and allows wildflowers to thrive. This will support the incredible species which call Hengrove Mounds their home, such as the nationally scarce carrot mining bee.”
Looking after the goats
Our Hengrove Mounds goat herd will be cared for by Street Goat volunteer goat herders (they need more volunteers so if you are interested- apply here) who will be on site regularly to check on them. The goats have shelter and water provided for them. If you have any concerns about their welfare, there are telephone numbers on site you can call.
Saying hello to the goats
The goats are there to do an important job but we are keen for visitors to learn about how they help to improve our green spaces in an ecologically sound way and so you are welcome to walk through the fenced enclosure, just make sure any dogs are on short leads and shut gates behind you, just like for the goats along the Avon Gorge. Please don’t feed the goats as we want to make sure they are peckish enough to nibble on the brambles and saplings!
You can follow the progress of these and other Street Goats across Bristol on Street Goats Facebook page.