A Bird Dog Goes West

Today we bring you another in our running series on mascots. It's a sad one, though...

A couple'a years ago, through a series of 'viral' videos, your blogmeister, indeed the entire world, was introduced to a Border Collie named Piper, the 'Wildlife Control Officer' at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan. His job: chase away the birds. Here's one of those videos:

Wildlife poses a potential hazard to aviators, with thousands of 'strikes' reported each year; bird strikes chief among them. (More info on that HERE.) Through his bird-dogging, Piper has helped to keep aviation a bit safer in his little corner of the woods, and became something of a celebrity to boot.

Sadly, in early 2018, Piper went West... but he will always be fondly remembered.

All images: AirportK9.org

Fade to Black...