Eagle Scout using goats to attain scouting honor

WARRENVILLE, Ill. (WLS) -- What do you get when you mix together an award-winning Boy Scout and 38 goats? You get a story about poison ivy and huge appetites.

A beautiful day at Blackwell Forest Preserve near west suburban Warrenville. A beautiful day for people, and for goats eating enough to bust their bellies. It's a 10-hour day for these vegetarian, nonstop leaf munchers. And it's all because of Eagle Scout Gavin Burseth.

"We have 38 goats eating poison ivy," he said. "They're eating all the other invasive plants here today. And they'll be fertilizing the land also and bringing back the native vegetation."

Burseth is already an Eagle Scout and he's now working for one of the scout's highest honors, The Hornaday Award. He has already completed two conservation projects towards that goal this is the last part of his big test.

"It's a really hard award," Burseth said. "Last year only five scouts got this award last year. So it's really hard to win.

This is a favorite spot for campers in this DuPage County Forest Preserve. They camp here, they hike here and yes there's lots of poison ivy.

"The poison ivy was pretty extensive through this area and we really wanted to control it," said Burseth.

He is working with his older brother Derek, who owns a company called "Thor Goats Eco Lawn Care" and together the brothers and the goats are an environmental super team.

Goats, as you probably know, can eat almost anything. Their stomachs are like Kevlar, bulletproof. So these are the perfect employees for this job.

"They'll never take a break until the sun sets. Even after that they'd probably work the whole night through," Derek Burseth said.

There is a low voltage fence to keep the goats in and people out, so no goat-napping, please.