The sound of leaves crunching in the woods can mean footsteps of a deer or a rabbit, but for April Huppert-Greene of Greene Ravine Goats, it is the sound of goats at work.

Greene Ravine Goats is a herd of goats that works through Goats On The Go, a business that brings goats to properties to clear areas with invasive plant species or heavy brush.

The goats eat a variety of plants, with their favorite being buckthorn. In addition to buckthorn the goats eat honeysuckle, garlic mustard, burning nettles and more. Huppert-Greene said buckthorn is the favorite of the goats, but they will wander around and eat all the invasive species in the area eventually.

“That’s the ice cream, but browsing is what goats do,” Huppert-Greene said. “The term that’s used universally is grazing, but they truly browse.”

Goats can do jobs like these due to extremely low body fat levels. Goats constantly need to eat to the point where Huppert-Greene said just a few goats cost up to $20 per day in feed costs alone.

“So, when we got our goats, and they worked on our property, we knew that they were going to have to find a way to earn their keep,” Huppert-Greene said.

When Greene Ravine Goats got started, the goats initially worked on maintaining property for family and friends but working with Goats On The Go led to an increase in opportunities.

Greene Ravine Goats has expanded its herd over the last year, going from 60 goats to 220 as the season begins. The season starts as soon as temperatures rise enough to avoid cold rain and can go all the way until Nov. 1 if the weather cooperates.

With the increase in goats, Huppert-Greene expects the number of acres grazed to go from last year’s total of 55 to around 100 during the coming season.

The weather is a crucial factor in the length of the season because goats can get sick, and usually hide their illnesses, according to Huppert-Greene.

“Goats are prey animals, so they hide their illness and they do it really well,” Huppert-Greene said.

Getting these goats to cooperate is not always the easiest thing, which is one of the things Huppert-Greene feels can also be one of the more exciting parts of the job.

“It’s like having a bunch of two-year-olds,” Huppert-Greene said. “They sometimes follow suggestions really well, but other times, not so much.”

It takes 40 goats around four to seven days to complete an acre of land, with some factors such as weather playing a role in the range.

The goats are fenced in with a solar-powered electric fence which both protects them from predators such as coyotes and dogs and prevents them from straying away from the herd.

Technology has rapidly changed many businesses, and Greene Ravine Goats are no exception. Huppert-Greene is exploring a tracking collar from a company called Nofence that would both track the goats and command them to move, replacing the electric fence.

“I could be in Hawaii and move my goats, if I didn’t want to physically,” Huppert-Greene said. “But we’re waiting for our feedback from our peers, because that fence is the barrier from the outside in.”

Huppert-Greene said the tracking will contribute to recognizing sick goats as the trackers will show which goats have not been moving around an expected amount.

Greene Ravine Goats, based in rural River Falls, serve Pierce and Pepin counties in addition to parts of Dunn, St. Croix and Washington (Minn.) counties. For more information go to www.goatsonthego.com.