When it comes to keeping Carrboro and Chapel Hill parks clean and safe, poison ivy’s no match for the Goat Patrol.

Carrboro’s interim Landscape and Grounds Supervisor David Poythress says goats could be a green answer to the town’s poison ivy problem.

The Goat Patrol is the brainchild of Alix Bowman, a local goat owner who rents out her animals to clear areas of poison ivy and other unwanted vegetation. Goats are not harmed by poison ivy, in fact, they seem to love the stuff, says Chapel Hill’s Parks and Recreation Director Butch Kisiah.

This is the first year either town has used the goat patrol, but staff from both Carrboro and Chapel Hill plan to use them again if all goes well. The goats will be nibbling away at Anderson Community Park on Tuesday and Wednesday. They will move to Southern Park in Chapel Hill next month.