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Outstanding in the Field: Goats, Llamas, Sheep Chow Down O'Hare Overgrowth

By Heather Cherone | September 4, 2014 5:23am | Updated on September 4, 2014 5:24am
 Fourteen goats, six sheep, three burros and two llamas have been working for three weeks at O'Hare.
Weeds Beware: Goats, Llamas, Burros, Sheep Unleashed at O'Hare
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O'HARE — Travelers taking off or landing at O'Hare International Airport shouldn't be alarmed if they catch sight of a llama, burro, sheep or goat from their window seat.

As part of the second year of a pilot program to make the airport's operations more sustainable, 37 llamas, burros, sheep and goats are chowing down on a smorgasbord of waist-high buckthorn, garlic mustard, thistles, poison ivy and ragweed along the creek that runs through the airport's 8,000 acres.

"They are doing wonderfully," said Pinky Janota, founder of Settler's Pond, a Beecher, Ill.-based nonprofit group that rescues abandoned farm and exotic animals. "They are more used to the area, and they take really good care of them at the airport."

 A llama grazes on a two-acre plot of land at O'Hare Airport last year. The llama is part of a herd of goats, sheep, llamas and burros the airport is using to control about 120 acres of dense scrub vegetation that's difficult to maintain with traditional landscaping equipment.
A llama grazes on a two-acre plot of land at O'Hare Airport last year. The llama is part of a herd of goats, sheep, llamas and burros the airport is using to control about 120 acres of dense scrub vegetation that's difficult to maintain with traditional landscaping equipment.
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Scott Olson/Getty Images

Heather Cherone sets the record straight about where these animals come from and where they go once the job is done:

Joseph Arnold, who owns the Butcher & the Burger restaurant in Lincoln Park, partnered with Settler's Pond after winning a $39,000 contract for the two-year pilot program, which is designed to determine whether four-legged city workers can do a better job reducing unwanted vegetation around O'Hare in the rocky, steep areas that are difficult for two-legged crews to maintain.

This summer's operation, which began about a month ago, is a "little more streamlined, more professional," Arnold said.

While Arnold and his partner, chef Al Sternweiler, initially bid for the contract because they found themselves with a herd of goats and wanted some publicity for the restaurant, the effort now centers on helping the animals from Settler's Pond, Arnold said. 

Like last year, Arnold's firm plans to make a $75 donation per animal per season to Settler's Pond. Since the shelter doesn't have to take care of the animals or feed them during the months they are at the airport, it has helped Settler's Pond's bottom line a great deal, Janota said.

Eleven more animals will call the airport home this summer than last, city Aviation Department officials said.

Biologists with the federal Department of Agriculture are studying what the animals eat, what they leave behind and what plants return on the 120 acres they will maintain along the creek, Arnold said.

In addition, students with the 4HYouth Program at the University of Illinois Extension in St. Charles will work with the USDA to care for the animals, who are expected to remain at the airport until November, or until the weather turns, officials said.

The animals, none of which have become ill or been injured during their work at the airport, enjoy dipping in the creek to cool off, Janota said.

"They love the attention," said Janota. 

The bigger animals, especially the burros and the llamas, will protect the herd from predatory animals like coyotes and red-tailed hawks, while eating the grass and other weeds the goats don't enjoy, Janota said.

While at work, the animals are kept in fenced areas away from the runways and terminals, which will continue to be maintained by the airport's regular maintenance crews, officials said. The animals spend the night in a transport trailer, officials added.

For more Northwest Side news from Heather Cherone, listen here: