SPENCER — A small army of hungry goats is coming to Spencer to feast on kudzu.
The town board on Tuesday agreed to support the Land Trust’s plan to hire a western North Carolina company with experience and a good reputation to bring in six goats to eat the invasive plants that have taken over a large gully along the 1300 block of South Salisbury Avenue. The Land Trust will pay for the goats, as well as pick up the tab for cleaning up litter and whatever else is under the kudzu, Executive Director Jason Walser said.
“This has been a wasteland for many years,” Walser said.
The gully is part of the Stanback Forest or Spencer Woods, a 42-acre forest owned by the town and currently managed by the Land Trust and funded by state grants. The gully eventually will be turned into a public entrance to the park and ecological preserve.
While Walser said the Land Trust could wait another year before tackling the kudzu problem, aldermen said bring in the goats. They will arrive next month, after K.D. Ecological Services builds a temporary fence and surveys the area for anything that might be toxic to the goats, Walser said. The company also will document everything growing in the gully, he said.
Unlike more rural settings, the goats will not have guard dogs to protect them from predators. Land Trust staff and community volunteers will rotate to check on the herd several times a day while the goats eat, but Walser acknowledged that some of the goats could fall victim to coyotes that travel up and down Grants Creek.
“Coyotes are here, and they may eat the goats, and we are going to do our best to protect the goats,” he said. “That’s part of what the fencing is for.”
The goats will chomp kudzu for about a month this fall, then return in June 2015 for another feast. Their third and final “treatment” will take place in late summer or fall of 2015.
About 15 to 20 trees in the gully are under attack by kudzu, Walser said, and the Land Trust would like to try to save them.
Completely clearing the gully of invasive species will require the use of some chemicals in addition to the goats, he said. The Land Trust plans to plant cover crops and trees this fall to help prevent erosion once the kudzu is removed.
Some Spencer business owners have expressed concern about where snakes, rats and groundhogs that live in the gully will go when the kudzu has been chomped.
“Over time, the wildlife will find other places to go,” Walser said. “Ultimately, we don’t want those things in the town proper anyway, and it’s best for them to go elsewhere.”
Groundhogs cause problems with sidewalks and underground utilities, he said. The Land Trust will work to handle any issues that arise from wildlife migrating out of the gully, he said.
The effort to reclaim the gully “to something that we can all be proud of” will take two to three years, Walser said.
Management of Spencer Woods eventually will come under a future nonprofit partnership, similar to the organization that manages Hurley Park in Salisbury. Walser apologized to aldermen for not setting up the LLC yet, which will have members appointed by the town and Land Trust.
“We just haven’t gotten there yet but we are close,” Walser said.
The Land Trust saved Spencer Woods from clear cutting, then helped Spencer win $400,000 in state grants to buy the forest and fund a master plan for trails, observation platforms, bridges and more. Up to three treatments by goats will cost about $5,000, including the livestock, a temporary shelter and fencing.

Contact reporter Emily Ford at 704-797-4264.