CONYNGHAM TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Volunteer first responders with Pond Hill-Lily Lake Ambulance recruited some new volunteers, but they're not EMTs.
"It was so grown out, and there was no way we could get in there," said Joe Kubricki, Pond Hill-Lily Lake Ambulance
"We came over and looked, and I said, 'Yeah, the goats would love to come over and eat this,' and it's just a block away from the farm if you will," said Brian Vick, Goats for Rent.
The volunteer ambulance company in Wapwallopen is required to have trees planted next to its building so neighbors aren't disturbed by the lights, but the trees can't be planted until all of the overgrown brush is gone.
"He asked me how much, and I said, 'Oh, I'm not going to charge you to do this. We can do this for you. The goats like to eat,'" Vick said.
The generous offer couldn't have come at a better time for volunteers with the ambulance company. The team of four is struggling keeping up and needs more volunteer EMTs.
"It's hard. There's a lot of regulations, and it isn't the easiest thing to get anymore," explained Kubricki.
So until those volunteers come, Kubricki will keep the ambulance company's property up to the county's standard. After eight hours of trying to clear the brush, he and his wife didn't seem to get anywhere. It was too big of a job, but it's not a problem for the team of eight goats.
"Goats clear brush. They clear lots of good stuff out," said Vick.
"I never thought goats could do something like this," Kubricki said.
It has even become a learning experience for people who stop by to watch the goats at work. Vick has taught all the neighbors about what goats don't and do like to eat.
"Thistle, prickle bushes, poison ivy, poison oak, the things that us humans don't want to touch," Vick said.
The goats don't mind a light rain, but when it starts to rain harder, they'll go back home to their barn. And right on cue, the rain picked up, and the goats ran toward home. They'll be right back out here eating, though, once the rain stops.