By Jill Jansson
“Shoo geese!” Gail Devins commanded.
With those two words, Louie and Winston, a flash of white and black fur, were off, bounding toward the pond, splashing into the water and barking their throats dry, as they paddled toward a flock of Canada geese.
The geese lazily swam in a cluster.
Then, their long necks perked up at the sounding alarm—“woof, woof, woof”— shattering the quiet of the cool autumn afternoon.
The two Border Collies strategically closed, while the third, Tug, the oldest of the three collies, stood guard at shore. The three sang out a chorus of incessant barking, all conducted by Devins’ clenched fist moving side to side—code for “bark.”
“Shoo geese! Shoo geese!” Devins yelled, urging her dogs on.
The geese, reluctant to move at first, sensed the presumed predator zeroing in. Then, the urgent honks sounded in a succinct stream of screams.
They flapped of their wings, preparing to take flight.
In a seemingly rehearsed succession, they climbed through the air and disappeared behind the tree line.
Louie and Winston paddled back to shore and charged up the hill, barking enthusiastically. Then, dropping himself on his back, Louie did his “victory dance” and rolled around in the grass.
Devins congratulated her dogs, bending down to pet Winston’s wet and mudded fur, while throwing a stick over to Tug, who leaped forward to retrieve it.
This is a typical day on the job for Devins. The life-long Easton resident and her three border collies work for area country clubs, corporations and schools to keep Canada geese off the grounds.
Devins had dogs all her life.
As a young girl, it was her dream to do something with dogs, but she never really thought about it later on, and instead went on to become a Real Estate agent.
Five years ago Devins adopted Tug from a couple, who couldn’t manage an energetic, 2-year-old Border Collie.
Border collies are a high-energy breed of dogs and are very smart. They need to be exercised and stimulated daily, Devins said.
She began to think about how to keep him busy.
Devins heard of a dog that chased geese way at golf courses in the area.
She decided to give it a try.
Contacting the Easton Country Club immediately, she told them she needed to use up her dog’s energy and wanted to give geese chasing a try.
It was Tug’s big interview day. Devins brought him out, let him loose and said, “Ok, get the geese!”
Tug just looked at her.
“Shoo geese,” she said, trying again and hoping desperately he would make a move.
He picked up a stick and began to play with it.
Fail.
But Devins didn’t give up. It took one and a half months to teach Tug how to shoo geese. She used the follow-my-lead technique. It was quite a funny sight, seeing a woman running after geese, screaming bloody murder, she said.
Finally, Tug caught on.
“Woo Hoo!” Devins yelped with delight.
Ever since, Devin’s company, Shoo Geese! Border Patrol, has been servicing Easton’s country clubs, cemeteries, corporate properties, and school campuses. She currently has 10 accounts.
As the company slogan states, the team of four are “on the prowl for water foul.”
Really, wherever nice grass and water are, is where the geese will be, Devins said.
At Stonehill College, geese overrun the open quad in central campus and the pond at the Route 123 roadway, where there could be up to 600 geese at once, Devins said.
It can take a while for the three dogs to move that many geese up and out.
It requires a lot of barking.
One morning around 8:30, Devins was on the central-campus quad area with the dogs. She had them barking away.
“Some people are trying to sleep here,” yelled out a sleepy-eyed, disgruntled student from her dorm room.
“Sometimes I forget where I am,” Devins said, trying to hush the dogs.
Devins is always worried when she’s at the country club or corporate grounds. The over-excited, friendly dogs jump up on people, she said.
“There are always the ladies with nice, clean, white shoes at the Country Club, then, along comes Winston,” said Devins, dressed in her muck boots, jeans and turtle-neck sweater.
Canada Geese have become a growing problem for the area.
The Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918 protects geese and their goslings, which has caused overpopulation, and the warmer climate allows them to remain in the Northeast year-round.
Not only do geese kill the landscape with their droppings, which they produce up to 25 times per day. The Centers for Disease Control reports that the droppings are health hazards because it contains disease-causing bacteria, but certainly not enough to justify mass destruction of the Canada geese population.
Geese no longer fear humans because they are so used to being around them and often can act very aggressively towards people, especially if they have goslings or a nest close by.
Devins brings Tug, Louie and Winston to Stonehill College twice a day every day, except Sundays, at different times, otherwise the geese will anticipate her timing.
After all, geese are quite smart, Devins said.
The geese in Ocean Spray in Middleboro, Mass., know it’s her when she drives in. They walk around the grounds all day, not fazed by the passing cars, but once they see her car pull up, they “waddle themselves away, right away,” Devins said.
She does succeed in shooing the geese, but once one flock leaves, another moves in the next day. That is why it’s a full time job for Devins.
For golf courses, airports, parks, school recreation fields and corporate parks, shooing geese has become a common service in recent years. Border collies are the method of choice in keeping the geese out.
As naturally energetic and intelligent herding dogs, border collies have an immediate effect on the geese—more effective than other measures, such as loud gun shots, balloons or fake coyotes.
Border Collies’ wolf-like presence frightens the geese, who think they are predators, while they are really gentle animals that would never harm the geese or others in the area.
If these dogs aren’t given a job, then they will find one on their own. It’s really the best thing for them, Devins said.
“Mother Goose,” the name Devin proudly had embroidered across the chest of her bright red “Shoo Geese! Border Patrol” coat, is the master of her three beloved dogs.
“Down, sit, stay,” she commanded sternly.
Her favorite part of shooing geese is watching her dogs in action. “It amazes me, even though I do it every day,” she said.
She remembers the time when Louie, only six months old, started swimming after the geese, when two swans, who possessively guarded their babies, started to get really nasty.
They kept circling around little Louie, who was without a life jacket.
He just kept swimming and barking.
Devins was scared for his life.
“When he got to shore I have never been so happy,” she said.
Winston, the baby of the group, is Devins’ most recent pride and joy.
Recently, she wanted to teach him to swim after the geese, so he could tag-team with Louie in the water.
She tried and tried, and was about to give up.
“This just isn’t going to happen. He’s just not going to do it,” Devins said.
Then, one day, off he went, on her command, “Shoo geese!”
Devins says that she loves what she does—being with her dogs outside in the fresh air with nature. “It’s a nice, healthy way to spend my day,” she said.
After a job well done, no geese were in sight.
The pond was still, once again.
The dogs moseyed around, already in pursuit of another job.
“Time to go home, guys,” Devins told them.
She rounded up the three pups.
“Winston. Louie. Tug,” she called, opening up the car door.
They came running and jumped in one after the other, plopping themselves down comfortably on the blanketed seats.
All ready to go home.
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