Border collies are born to herd sheep. But not Jet. After flopping with several trainers, he was taken in last year by Nick Carter; 34, an animal behaviorist and founder of the Melrose, Fla., nonprofit group Border Collie Rescue. Carter concluded that all Jet needed was a task more in tune with his moniker.

Since February, the 3-year-old Jet has been earning his wings as the latest weapon in Southwest Florida International Airport's battle against bird strikes - the potentially disastrous collisions between birds and jets that last year cost the U.S. civil aviation industry an estimated $300 million in damages. The first canine bird herder at a U.S. commercial airport, Jet spends four hours each day shooing cranes, egrets, herons and grackles from the Fort Myers tarmac. "He's having a big effect," says Susan Sanders, public relations director at the airport, where no bird strikes have been reported since Jet's arrival.

Carter hatched the plan in 1997 after watching a TV show about bird strikes, on the rise due to thriving avian populations and quieter planes. Since laws protect many bird species, airports tried dispersing them by firing shells or playing tapes of distress calls. "I thought, 'All they need is a Border collie," recalls Carter. He persuaded Southwest Florida to try Jet, who almost got carried away. "When he ran out of birds he began to go after alligators," says Carter. Now, "when he sees an alligator, he does a big loop around it. He's a pretty bright boy."