Nowadays you don’t know really when spring will come. It seems unpredictable now. Some years spring shows up in February other times much later in April. On our homestead, where we live with our dogs, sheep, and poultry, we also have gardens. I remember planting vegetables in early March a few years back, here in New York State. Though warm weather is inviting to us humans, it plays havoc with all things nature. Snow protects the ground, farmers fields, and wild plants from cold weather and adds needed water to aquafers. Wildlife and trees and plants rely on the old school timing of the regular seasons. If songbirds show up in our northern climes when there is a warm-up and winter hits back, they are stuck for food and left to fight a hostile environment. Bees, for instance, can starve because their winter store of food gets used up with long winters and freeze if they think spring is here, and it is not.
I took the Border Collies on a walk-behind our Homestead a few weeks back. This would have been in the middle of January. The temperatures were very warm, almost 60. I can’t remember it ever being that warm in January. As we came out of a woods that overlooked a neighbor’s farm pond, we saw a pair of geese floating. A flock of migrating crows feed on the farmers harvested cornfield, eating corn kernels left behind. All I could think was it was way too early. The Border Collies looked surprised to see the “early birds.” The pair of geese would have to fly back downstate where it is a bit warmer as the winter did come back, to a degree. The flock of crows disappeared as well the following week.
However, it does pay to be ready and be adaptable with nature. As pairs of geese do show up, it is best to prevent them from nesting in places where they will trouble people. We have helped clients deal with geese nesting in parking lots and by doorways to buildings. In both cases, the male geese of the pairs would chase people, not allowing them to walk or enter buildings. Pairs of geese can show up on a property in early spring and set up a nest. They are highly territorial but have their own personalities. Some geese, pairs, are actually on the shy shy, but others are quite combative. People can get knocked over, kids scared, and they can go nose to nose with our herd-chasing Border Collies. That is why Border Collies are used to haze geese. Border Collies know how to defuse confrotations with sheep and with wild geese.
Border Collies have a strong drive, instant, to work/herd and to listen in partnership with their handlers. Border Collies are bred to be effective at moving sheep without causing harm/stress, and so it goes for geese. But that comes with a fair bit of knowledge on the humans part and a lot of “team” practice. So winter is a great time to practice herding the sheep. We also have poultry on our homestead, which are herded to and from areas they forage on. And that happens in a winter such as this without too much snow, not just in the warmer months. Otherwise, keeping the Border Collies happy with exercise if not a lot of outdoor time within reason is recommended. I will go off with some of the collies for lessons if not, “fieldwork” on larger farms,this is helpful to keep refining our skillsets.
Of course, catching up on some rest after a busy goose control season during the winter is great for my family and me. I think the collies and our one mix-breed dog begrudgingly appreciate the quieter winter too if it doesn’t last too long. Staying in touch with clients, setting up operational plans, and other office work starts in earnest after the Holidays. Some of our clients have geese regularly show up earlier than other clients. We have clients who use our services more in the summer. But if you have geese show up early in the spring or whenever they do, it’s easier and less confrontational to send them somewhere else by hazing them with Border Collies.