{"id":37837,"date":"2020-01-19T18:23:19","date_gmt":"2020-01-19T18:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/01\/19\/critters-hoggin-your-runway-this-state-has-a-solution\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T19:42:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T19:42:48","slug":"critters-hoggin-your-runway-this-state-has-a-solution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2020\/01\/19\/critters-hoggin-your-runway-this-state-has-a-solution\/","title":{"rendered":"Critters hoggin\u2019 your runway? This state has a solution!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

MERIDIAN, Miss. \u2014 Mississippi will pay $3 million for a fence to keep wild animals off the runways of a military base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Navy official said the state\u2019s job-creation agency, Mississippi Development Authority<\/a>, has offered a grant to pay for the barrier at Naval Air Station Meridian<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new chain-link fence would be built inside an existing fence surrounding the base, and bottom of the new fence will be buried deep, the Meridian Star reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deer, cattle, hogs and coyotes have reached the property in recent years, and a farmer reported that a hunter killed a sow near the fence last month, said Jim Copeland, community planning and liaison officer for the base.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pigs have a low center of gravity and can cause a plane to lose control if they are hit by the nose wheel, Copeland said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t