Blade our four and a half-year-old Border Collie ran into the lake again with a mighty splash. The ducks turned away several yards from the beach and swam the other way. This was the third time Blade had done that as well as doing “flank” runs on the beach and nearby picnic areas. I was in the kayak in the lake,just off shore, with our little two and a half old Border Collie Tara, helping Blade’s work. When Blade went to the left of where the ducks were swimming, I went to the ducks right and vice versa. The ducks got tired of being “herd-chased,” our form of hazing, and swam toward a more wilder part of the state park lake. The hazing program at this state park calls for hazing ducks and not geese because Swimmer’s Itch was thought to be an issue there. The combination of ducks and snails can create Swimmer’s Itch.
Hazing wildlife is a relatively new concept, in some ways. But hazing may have been around as long as humans have been around. Early Humans needed to seperate our selves from wild animals that would eat their food, gardens or farm animals. Humans have used lethal or nonlethal means to “survive.” You can not go very far if wildlife, birds, or mammals eat all your crops or gardens or stored food. I am told a lot of animals and birds are killed, around the world, to grow human food. So there are lethal means, nonlethal and leaving the animals alone. Sometimes, I will agree animals and birds should be left alone in many cases; it is all a matter of degree. But development of land calls for planning and coordination. Forinstance, science now concludes that coyotes become more of a problem to farmers if hunted rather than hazed at certain times of year.
Of course, we humans are set in our ways, and some think that hazing is just silly, hunting is the only way. And I have meet people who believe that hazing is cruel. I believe that hazing can be very effective, though more work than hunting but can solve the human issue, rather than “doing nothing.” Parents get mad when their kids walk in all that goose poo on their school fields, and people get upset if beaches get closed down because of E.coli. Hazing is what people can do to keep deer away from their scrubs. We haze wild birds, including raptors away from our homestead. Raptors can damage a chicken flock quickly if they are on pasture. Our Border Collies and mix breed understand that some wild birds and which ones are an issue on the homestead. Bears are probably best hazed with banging pots and pans.
As the ducks swam out of sight toward the wooded shore, I turned the kayak to rejoin Blade at the beach. The ducks were unharmed, not a feather out of place, and of course, the Border Collies enjoyed the work. Americans think of Border Collies as being “the smartest dog”, but it’s the instinct and energy level that should be considered. As I reached the shore, Tara jumped out of the kayak, and she and Blade ran off playfully doing the dog greeting thing with each other. I answered questions from some picnickers; the beach was now closed for the evening. The ducks will be fine; they do not need to eat food dropped by people on the beach and picnic areas. Ducks, like wild geese are “dabblers” for the most part; they naturally eat aquatic growth in the shallows of water bodies.