She can always rely on Lily and Lovey to be sweet. Buddy is good natured, if a little feisty. Recently she had to ask Molly to take a day off because of her attitude. Busting through a fence is looked down upon in her line of work.

But every one of them is great at what they do: devouring kudzu, poison and English ivies, wisteria, Japanese honeysuckle and other kinds of invasive or unwanted plants. Tetens hopes the nine goats’ hearty appetites will help her build a thriving business. She started The Goat Squad this summer to help landowners clear an area of weeds without herbicides or machinery or having to spend endless hours pulling them by hand.

“It’s a very environmentally friendly way to deal with a widespread problem,” Tetens said.

On Sept. 15, visitors to Durham Central Park got to see the goats at work. For several days the herd cleared the northern end of the park, near the old Durham Athletic Park, through which a branch of the South Ellerbe Creek flows.

The animals stood on a near-vertical hill, munching kudzu and gazing back at the humans who watched from the other side of a portable electric fence.

“It’s so cool doing public spaces and talking to people, and the goats just charm people right away,” Tetens said.

Dan Jewell, who oversees most of the park maintenance, thought The Goat Squad would be a perfect way to clear the overgrown slope. Herbicides would end up in Ellerbe Creek. And there was no telling how long it would take volunteers, who do monthly maintenance work, to hack or pull all the weeds away.

“The goats were very focused volunteers, that’s how we looked at it,” said Jewell, a landscape architect who helped develop the park’s master plan and is a member of the Durham Central Park board of directors.

The herd, made up of Alpine dairy and boer-mix goats, clears about 600- to 800-square feet of land per day, depending on the density of weeds.

When exploring the business idea Tetens asked Alix Bowman if she might be willing to chat with her over lunch. At the time Bowman was closing her Durham-based business Goat Patrol, which offered goat-fueled landscaping. Bowman helped her out, and soon after, Tetens decided to buy the animals and go for it.

One of the major draws for Tetens was the chance to offer a environmentally friendly weed solution. She is a former executive director and conservation director of the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association.

Tetens gained valuable marketing skills while working for the association, she said. And most importantly, she’s passionate about the idea.

“As far as marketing, I think every bit of success comes from me being excited about what I’m doing,” she said.

She plans to expand to 30 goats by next summer and have them work at residential, commercial and public spaces, large and small. And, not surprisingly, she’s interested in stream restoration projects.

Tetens gives free estimates and checks sites to see if they are of the appropriate size and density for The Goat Squad.

For information email info@goatsquad.com or call 919-967-8945.