Border collie patrol: Airport dog herds birds

Piper the border collie has a very important job at his local airport.

The hardworking pup is responsible for keeping Michigan's Traverse City Airport (Cherry Capital Airport) free from birds that can cause problems for pilots trying to land aircraft.

Wearing a ski mask to protect his eyes from wind, and boots to protect his paws from the hot tarmac, Piper has attracted lot of attention in his hometown and abroad.

His breed makes him a natural herder and he was specially trained to be able to tolerate aircraft noise - with custom-made "MuffMutts" to protect his hearing.

He works four 10-hour shifts a week, on a rotating basis, with plenty of dog biscuit breaks.
As well as preventing disaster, Piper's job is also to boost the morale of employees and visitors to the airport - which he's clearly very good at.

As the airport had experienced 37 bird strikes and even one skunk strike between 2010 and 2015, his contributions are highly valued.

Piper was first trialled as a Wildlife Control K-9 in 2014 and things have never been the same since.

The airport believed he was one of fewer than 10 in the United States, the Daily Mail reported.

Although nothing gets in the way of his job, Piper did suffer a fracture while chasing a snowy owl last year which has left him out of service for the last few months.

His trainer, Brian Edwards, told the Daily Mail that he had chased off 2430 birds that year.

- nzherald.co.nz