The Use of Border Collies in Avian and Wildlife Control Programs

Airports attract large numbers of wildlife primarily because they offer immense tracts of foraging and nesting habitats free from the threat of predation. Border collies can serve as an effective means of wildlife control in these environments by introducing a predator into the ecosystem. Many wildlife dispersal methods seek to imitate predators or the effect of predators and become increasingly ineffective as wildlife habituate to the stimuli. However, border collies are true predators, representing an actual, not perceived, threat to wildlife thereby eliminating the problems of habituation. Six airports and military bases have initiated use of border collies at their facilities. The number of bird strikes decreased dramatically at Southwest Florida International Airport after the introduction of a border collie, and the dog humanely prevented nesting by the Florida sandhill crane (Grus canadensis pratensis). At Dover Air Force Base, large bird numbers decreased by 99.9% within an initial 1-month period of harassment by a border collie