SEA GIRT — Fifteen goats have returned to this Jersey Shore town with a job to do: eat invasive plantsOn Wednesday, Sea Girt brought in 15 goats from Rhinebeck, New York, which is home to 7,500 people and sits along the Hudson River. Rhinebeck is also home to Green Goats — the farm that brought Lulu, Honey and 13 other goats to New Jersey.The borough said the animals will be in Sea Girt for two weeks to thin out non-native plants on steep slopes at Wreck Pond.These invasive plants are on the goats' menu...
SEA GIRT — Fifteen goats have returned to this Jersey Shore town with a job to do: eat invasive plants
On Wednesday, Sea Girt brought in 15 goats from Rhinebeck, New York, which is home to 7,500 people and sits along the Hudson River. Rhinebeck is also home to Green Goats — the farm that brought Lulu, Honey and 13 other goats to New Jersey.
The borough said the animals will be in Sea Girt for two weeks to thin out non-native plants on steep slopes at Wreck Pond.
These invasive plants are on the goats' menu
According to Green Goats, they'll chomp on:
???? Japanese Knotweed,???? Japanese Honeysuckle,???? Mugwort,???? Smilex,???? English Ivy, and???? the Tree of Heaven.
These plants have dominated the five acres around Wreck Pond, and other efforts to remove them have been unsuccessful, according to the borough. The use of goats is natural and environmentally friendly because it minimizes the use of herbicides and heavy mechanical equipment, according to the Sea Girt Conservancy.
The goats can be seen on The Terrace between Fourth and Fifth Ave.
However, visitors are asked not to pet them because their coats could be covered in oils from Poison Ivy. People also shouldn't feed the goats, because they need their appetites to do their jobs.
It's not the first time that Green Goats has been to Sea Girt; they visited last year with the same mission. Councilman Alan Zakin and Councilwoman Diane Anthony discussed the return of the goat grazing program at a May 13 borough council meeting.
Video of the goats hard at work last year can be seen on YouTube. ????
Report a correction ???? | ???? Contact our newsroom
Asbury Park and the perfect summer day in the summer of '26!
EJ did a broadcast from our Asbury Park Boardwalk Studio on Saturday August 15, 2026. Asbury Park was hopping! The beach and boardwalk were busy well into the evening with low humidity, sunny cloudless skies and a surf temp of 78° and a light breezy air temp of 80°! EJ felt the need to take a walk and document it! Enjoy the photos!
Gallery Credit: Eric "EJ" Johnson