O'HARE — City aviation officials are looking for a few good four-legged weed-whackers to tackle the waist-high buckthorn, garlic mustard, thistles, poison ivy and ragweed now growing around O'Hare Airport.
The several dozen llamas, goats, burros and camels that kept the weeds in check during the last three years won't be back, said Joe Arnold, who oversaw the herd of part-time city workers.
"It was a lot of fun," said Arnold, who owns Lincoln Park restaurant Butcher & the Burger with his partner, Chef Al Sternweiler. "But I'm not a shepherd."
The partners' bid on the contract in 2012 after they unexpectedly found themselves with a herd of goats they planned to use to produce cheese for the restaurant.
Animals from Settler's Pond, a Beecher, Ill.-based nonprofit group that rescues abandoned farm and exotic animals, made up the rest of the hairy maintenance crew.
After declaring the pilot program a success, city officials extended the two-year contract for another year through 2015, bringing the total earned by Arnold and Sternweiler to approximately $94,000.
The publicity about the animals' part-time job at O'Hare was a boon to his Lincoln Park restaurant, which offers do-it-yourself burgers with locally sourced and organic ingredients, Arnold said.
Settler's Pond got a $75 donation per animal per season from Arnold — and of course, all the critters could eat in weeds.
The herd helped eliminate hazardous habitat for birds and other wildlife, which is designed to reduce bird strikes, city officials said. The effort also reduced the use of herbicides and the carbon footprint left behind by the airport's maintenance crews.
City aviation officials are now reviewing bids for the two-year contract, which were due Friday. A decision is expected within the next month, said Karen Pride, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation.
The animals will be used to maintain the rocky and steep areas that are difficult for two-legged crews to mow, including the long, narrow and hilly banks of the Willow-Higgins Creek on the 8,000-acre airport.
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