Chicago's O'Hare wants a few good goats

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CHICAGO, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Chicago's aviation authority is looking for at least two dozen hungry goats to eat down acres of weedy property around O'Hare International Airport.

About 100 acres of land around the country's second-busiest airport after Atlanta have become overgrown with grass and weeds, which is attracting birds that are hazardous to aircraft, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Saturday.

The land is difficult to access with heavy mowing machines, so the decision was made to seek out an animal solution to eat the foliage, aviation spokeswoman Amy Malick told the newspaper.

"Sheep, goats -- it could be any grazing animal. We don't discriminate," Malick said.

So far, the authority has heard from five candidates willing to bring their herd to the airport perimeter.

Whoever lands the deal must also provide portable fencing to contain the grazers and prevent runway encounters, Malick said.

Earlier this week, goats and sheep were deployed around Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to munch away non-native, invasive, fast-growing plant species, the report said.