'Jet' becomes SW Florida's first 'bird dog' ... at the International Airport

Southwest Florida International Airport's new wildlife manager is smart, young and dedicated. His work ethic has been described as "obsessive compulsive." He also loves to splash through puddles.

Jet, a 2-year-old border collie, is trained to chase birds away from the paths of aircraft at Southwest Florida International Airport. Dan Wagner/Staff

And appropriately, he's named Jet.

Jet is a 2-year-old, 35-pound border collie with a long black coat and white paws. He has worked at the Fort Myers airport since Feb. 10. His business card - yes, his business card - lists his title as "a new kind of bird dog."

Jet knows nothing of the trend it may set in the aviation industry. What he knows, in addition to his trainer's whistle and voice commands, is simple: Chase birds from the airport's 12,000-foot runway.

As the country's first bird dog at a commercial airport, Jet's work could prompt bird dogs to take off at airports worldwide.

Before February, Jet, named before his airport stint began, was housed at the Border Collie Rescue in Melrose, Fla. Jet came there from another shelter that couldn't handle him. At the 16-acre Border Collie Rescue site, executive director Nicholas Carter trained some collies to rid birds from golf courses. He got the idea for airport dogs after seeing a television documentary on the subject.

A Federal Aviation Administration study shows birds collide with 2,500 planes annually in the United States, causing $48 million in aircraft damage since 1991. The study reports 85 percent of strikes occurred as planes approached or lifted from runways.

In 1998, there were 13 confirmed bird strikes among 70,000 flights at Southwest Florida International Airport.

Bobby Orick, the airport's airside operations manager, brought the bird dog idea to Fort Myers after hearing Carter speak at a conference in Cleveland last year. Airport officials and the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission approved the bird dog plan. The airport paid $6,000 for Jet, Carter's training and instruction for 12 airport trainers.

A consultant will produce a report on Jet's effectiveness by September. But Orick believes the canine's 90-minute morning and evening romps have already caused many tall, white cattle egrets to fly the airfield coop.

"There's been an immediate reduction in the bird population," he said Tuesday. "If this works, we want to share all our information with other airports. If it doesn't work, we want to share that too."

On Tuesday, a mower surrounded by tall, white egrets puttered through the airport's grass field. Planes screeched to slow stops on the adjacent runway. Orick restrained ready-to-run Jet by clutching his collar as the pair approached birds. The moment Orick let go, Jet took off.

The dozen birds scattered with a cacophony of squawks. They flew in a semi-circle. Then landed before rising again. Jet's border collie breed makes him a natural herder. But a flat, silver sheepherder's whistle around Orick's neck controls the dog. He guided Jet to move the birds away from the runway with whistle puffs commanding him to "lay down," "come here," and "go get 'em."

Should Jet ever race toward the runway, a whistle would command him to drop to the ground.

From an air-conditioned van, airport spokeswoman Susan Sanders watched Jet's chase, which ended with a victory lap through a grassy puddle.

"We're trying to encourage the birds to go to other habitats," she explained. "Other habitats are much safer. It's very rare when a bird comes into contact with an airplane that the bird wins."

According to Carter, the same tendencies that make Jet a bad house pet -high energy and a tendency to nip children's ankles - make him an ideal bird dog.

"He'll never stop," Carter said of Jet. "He could do it every day, all day long. If you've got birds for him, he'll go."

Jet trained for nearly nine months with ducks at the Melrose site. In addition to testing his skills at Gainesville's airport, Jet was exposed to a live alligator to learn to avoid the reptiles while working.

Carter is training other Border Collie Rescue dogs with the same skills he's instilled in Jet. He said he has given up prepping golf course dogs to focus on airport canines. Two Canadian airports are in the final phases of securing bird dogs, Carter said, while 20 air sites worldwide are beginning dog acquisition.

"(Border collies) are the only things that have been effective in golf courses," he said. "It'll catch on in airports, it's just a matter of logistics."

Standing in a cage in the back of Orick's van, Jet could care less about logistics, statistics or any other factors that brought him his new occupation. He's ready to return to work.

"You want to go chase more birds," Orick asked Jet before driving toward the airfield.

Jet responded with an open-mouthed pant. His expression could have almost been mistaken for a smile.

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