Arriving and departing passengers at Chicago's O'Hare Airport should direct their gaze as they take off and land in the weeks ahead to the grassy areas surrounding major runways.
There you quite possibly could see llamas and a whole herd of other animals that have returned to the airport for another season of vegetation grazing. Yes, a menagerie of 37 animals, including goats, sheep and burros, in addition to the llamas, are now in place doing their grass-eating thing on some 120 acres of land adjacent to — but fenced off from — airport runways. And according to the Chicago Department of Aviation, even more animals are slated to arrive in coming weeks.
All the animals are being sent from Settlers Pond, an animal rescue facility in Beecher, Illinois.
The animals first materialized on O'Hare property last year and spent most of their time munching on dense airport vegetation that included poison ivy and other noxious weeds that these particular animals seem to especially enjoy. The grazing areas include spots difficult to access with traditional mowing equipment.
The Department of Aviation has expanded its grazing program this season to include a partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture, which will dispatch staff biologists already on-site at O'Hare to quantify the benefits of having the grazing herds at the airport. Additionally, the Department of Aviation is partnering with area 4-H youth groups to establish a program to help care for the various rescue animals housed at Settlers Pond.
This year the llamas and other animals are expected to remain at O'Hare until sometime in November, when cold weather is likely to prevent easy accessibility to the vegetation the herd is there to graze.
There you quite possibly could see llamas and a whole herd of other animals that have returned to the airport for another season of vegetation grazing. Yes, a menagerie of 37 animals, including goats, sheep and burros, in addition to the llamas, are now in place doing their grass-eating thing on some 120 acres of land adjacent to — but fenced off from — airport runways. And according to the Chicago Department of Aviation, even more animals are slated to arrive in coming weeks.
All the animals are being sent from Settlers Pond, an animal rescue facility in Beecher, Illinois.
The animals first materialized on O'Hare property last year and spent most of their time munching on dense airport vegetation that included poison ivy and other noxious weeds that these particular animals seem to especially enjoy. The grazing areas include spots difficult to access with traditional mowing equipment.
The Department of Aviation has expanded its grazing program this season to include a partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture, which will dispatch staff biologists already on-site at O'Hare to quantify the benefits of having the grazing herds at the airport. Additionally, the Department of Aviation is partnering with area 4-H youth groups to establish a program to help care for the various rescue animals housed at Settlers Pond.
This year the llamas and other animals are expected to remain at O'Hare until sometime in November, when cold weather is likely to prevent easy accessibility to the vegetation the herd is there to graze.
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