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stronger herding instincts, such as border collies or Australian shepherds, might
have worked better. Recently, Beringer et a1. (1994) tested border collies in a similar study with better results. The dogs were contained by Invisible Fence® in a white pine plantation to monitor their effects in reducing deer damage to seedlings. Researchers compared browse rates of deer on pine seedlings in plots protected either by dogs, Hinder deer repellent, or no treatment. Browse rates averaged 13, 37, and 56% respectively, in the 3 treatments. They concluded dogs were a much better deterrent to deer damage than Hinder repellent or no treatment.
Dogs In Use |
new on golf courses. However the general idea is really not so new. Pfeifer (1983) reported
some landowners had used dogs with success to keep waterfowl out of hay and grain crops.
Oregon farmer, D. Puckett (pers. commun.). has used border collies and Australian shepherds
to protect his alfalfa fields from geese for nearly 14 years. His farm borders the Klamath
river near a national wildlife refuge which supports thousands of local and migrant
geese. Mr. Puckett has continued to incorporate a wide range of scare techniques
and fencing to protect his fields. Many of the methods have provided benefit, but his use of
dogs has been especially effective. Mr. Puckett personally trained his own dogs for the express purpose of hazing geese on command. The dogs were capable of going after geese up to l km away. The dogs were kept at the house with the family and learned their jobs quickly and easily. Through the years, Mr. Puckett owned several dogs and worked them singly and in pairs with good success. He claimed dogs kept geese away for longer periods of time than other frightening techniques. The geese apparently adapted to pyrotechnics and other forms of hazing and would return as soon as the person doing the hazing left the area. In contrast, dogs appeared to keep the birds off guard, possibly because they were low to the ground and approached quickly and silently at unexpected times. The geese seemed to genuinely fear for their safety and responded by taking flight or retreating to the river. Mr. Puckett estimated that, over time, dogs saved him thousands of dollars through prevention of crop damage. He continues to recommend dogs highly and believes they could be used to help resolve a variety of wildlife damage situations. In another agriculturally oriented endeavor, a border collie was tried with lesser success (K. Wallace, C. Kaiser, James River Corp., pers. commun.). James River Corporation had experienced persistent damage by white-tailed deer in cottonwood (Populus deltoides) plantations along the Columbia River in Oregon. The fast-growing trees were used for pulp production. Deer were causing extensive damage to the seedlings. The corporation purchased a border collie and hired a handler to patrol the plantations with the dog. The dog was effective in hazing deer out of the plantations, but the logistics and expense of 24-hour patrols made the method impractical. They abandoned the idea and installed special fencing to exclude deer from vulnerable plantings. Perhaps an electronic confinement system would have made the use of dogs more feasible in this situation.
Training And Care |