JERSEY CITY -- Liberty State Park has welcomed a new seasonal crew of landscapers to its staff -- 10 adorable goats.

The park brought in the goats in May to help target invasive plants, such as poison ivy and mulberry, and remove them along a two-acre wooded stretch that runs south along Freedom Way from the Nature Interpretive Center.

"It's like a pilot project," said Sam Pesin, president of Friends of Liberty State Park. "The park will have to decide after the season, but there's a chance they'll come back next year."

The goats have become a popular attraction for park visitors. Pesin encourages those who visit to park in the Nature Interpretive Center's lot and take a stroll south.

Goats have been used to control undesirable vegetation from targeted areas and can prove more sustainable than herbicides, heavy mechanical or other methods. However, visitors are advised not to touch or feed the goats, as they eat poison ivy and the oils that could spread to people.

"They eat everything," Pesin said, with a laugh. "They probably think it's delicious."

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This isn't the first time goats have been used in the area as a means of natural and effective plant clearing. For the second year in a row goats have helped clear excess plant growth at the the Historic Jersey City and Harsimus Cemetery on Newark Avenue. At the cemetery, visitors can feed the goats by paying for oats at a 25 cent feed machine that helps reduce the bills.

Liberty State Park's goats are rented from "Green Goats," a company in Rhinebeck, N.Y. that specializes in environmentally-friendly vegetation removal.

Once the goats complete the task, a professional landscaper will remove the woody material on the path and reintroduce native plants as part of the habitat restoration project.

The goats, which are helping clear a natural area that serves as a vital habitat for migrating birds and resident wildlife, will be in the park through September.