Goats eat vegetation and greet neighbors along Natrona riverwalk

HARRISON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- This week, 12 hungry goats and a donkey are tasked with managing the landscape along the Natrona riverfront in Harrison Township. 

At Three Rivers Water Trail in Natrona on Wednesday, the goats and donkey were eating up the attention of people passing by to say hello while also gobbling up the vegetation. 

"If they're always hungry, then what a great idea. It's like serving two purposes," said Natrona resident Debbie Hasson. "We learned a couple of things about the donkey and about the goats and stuff, so it's good for the kids too, educational."

Wednesday's "bleat and greet" was a collaboration among Allegheny Goatscape, Friends of the Riverfront and Natrona Comes Together Association. 

"It's a win-win for everyone," said Erin Gaughan, the community engagement coordinator of Allegheny Goatscape. "The goats really love to be here and eat, they also are all pretty social and enjoy getting the attention."

Allegheny Goatscape was asked to use their herd to clean up the riverfront for better access to the water. This keeps humans safe from scaling the slopes. 

"It's really hard to work through with volunteers alone," said Katie Craig, the trail development coordinator of Friends of the Riverfront. "A lot of the work we're doing is on very steep slopes. It takes time for people to cut these things down and these goats just demolish it. It's a great way to partner in an ecologically friendly way."

Gaughan said a dozen goats can eat about an acre in 12 to 14 days. Since their assignment along the river is smaller, they'll be there until Friday. 

"I think it's a good idea," said Natrona resident Jim Hasson. "You don't have to worry about the people going down there and getting poison ivy or getting all scratched up and that."

Visitors and Natrona locals enjoyed seeing the goats hard at work. 

"It's so nice, I love seeing them in a habitat where they get to eat whenever they want, not a lot of people are bothering them and they can just kind of chill. I like seeing the goats interact with each other," said visitor Helena Vasey.