A Wild Goose Chase

Bird Dogs on the Job

By Tamra Monahan

Birds and planes don't mix. When the two meet, it can spell disaster, as was the case for US Air Flight 1549. Shortly after takeoff, the pilot reported that the plane had lost power in both engines after striking a flock of birds. Investigators later discovered that the birds were large Canada geese, a species of bird that is of particular concern to pilots because of its size and increasing numbers.

Many airports struggle with birds who find the wide open spaces appealing, but there is a solution to this deadly problem: dogs"”and the best breed for this "wing dog" job is the Border Collie. At commercial and military airports all across the United States, these hyper-active, super smart dogs are hired for their outstanding ability to herd"”not the planes, but the birds that gather on the open areas adjacent to the runways. The dogs don't actually herd the birds, but rather chase them away, a method that has proven to be an effective wildlife management model for airports, golf courses, parks and other places where birds tend to gather.

Sky, a young Border Collie, works at the Southwest International Airport in Fort Myers, Fla., the first commercial airport in the United States to use a dog for wildlife management. Since 1999, this airport has employed dogs to keep large birds, such as egrets and herons, from congregating in and around the grass and wetland areas on airport property.

"If an airplane were to strike a large bird, such as a heron, there is the potential for serious damage to the aircraft, and the birds don't survive," says Southwest International spokesperson Angie Strait. "Using Sky to keep the birds out of the wetlands near the airport is a win-win situation"”the birds are going to be safe, our passengers are going to be safe, the planes are going to be safe."

Airports often use air horns or air canons to chase birds away, but birds can get used to the noise and ignore it. Sky, however, is not ignored because she is seen as a predator, even though she doesn't touch the birds. Her job is to simply chase them away, and this dog loves her job.

Golf courses are another place where birds, especially geese, love to land. With their wide open spaces, abundant grass, and numerous small ponds, golf courses are heaven on earth if you're a goose.

But if you're a golfer, the geese are a nasty nuisance. Although they're beautiful creatures, they leave behind a trail of messy droppings that wreak havoc on mowers and shoes, which is what happened at the Pebble Beach Golf Course. Flocks of geese caused so many problems for golfers and grounds keepers, the famed golf course had to find a way to move the geese along.

After looking into other forms of geese retardant, such as nets or chemicals, grounds keepers decided that a trained dog would be the least intrusive to both the environment and the golfers. Border Collie Lucky landed the job as Pebble Beach's official bird dog and has been keeping geese away from the golf course for the past six years.

Lucky is trained not to attack the geese, but rather to move in close causing the birds to fly away. In fact, Assistant Superintendent Jack Holt says she's scared of the geese and doesn't like getting close to them. Despite her fowl trepidations, Lucky is happiest when she's out on the links traveling with Holt in his golf cart on the lookout for unsuspecting geese.

"Lucky's job is to run the golf course all day long, and she loves it," Holt says. "Border Collies are really high-energy dogs and if they don't have a job to do, they're going to find one, and you probably won't like it."

Airports and golf courses are not the only places to have geese problems. Residents in new housing developments are discovering that when parks and ponds are added to their neighborhoods, geese move in. Instead of migrating, the birds settle in the cozy community, leaving droppings all over the parks and trails to the dismay of homeowners.

Jim Flippen, Community Manager for the BackCountry housing development in Highlands Ranch, Colo., had to find a way to discourage geese from staying in the community, so he hired Terry Hardey and her dogs to chase the geese away, and it worked.

"We researched the viable options and found that using dogs is the most effective and ecological way," Flippen says. "It's also the easiest to manage and monitor, and it has the least impact on the residents."

Border Collies, like Sky and Lucky, are successful bird chasers because of their herding instinct. The dogs crouch down and approach the birds in a predatory stance that causes them to fly away without harm.

Using dogs as pseudo-predators has proven to be a successful way to encourage birds to move along. By having a dog on duty, the birds eventually realize that a golf course or an airport or a park is not a good place to settle and nest. As for the dogs, they're just out running around having a good time.