from Hacker News

Australia Deploys Sheepdogs to Save a Penguin Colony

by credo on 11/5/15, 9:09 AM with 15 comments

• by giarc on 11/5/15, 5:05 PM

  I did some research in sheep farming a number of years ago. One farmer told me a story of the incredible skill and instincts of dogs (in this case, Great Pyrenees). I'll give a brief re-telling here.

  Farmer had two large flocks of sheep (500+ each). They lived a few kilometers apart. The farmer had about 15 Great Pyrenees dogs that lived with the flocks. Without any training, the dogs would divide themselves amongst the flocks. A 'sentinel' dog would travel back and forth between the flocks and if one had suffered some recent coyote attacks, the sentinel would adjust the number of dogs to increase 'security' at the affected flock. The dogs would remain with the other flock for days until they were able to fight off the coyotes. After the threat was dealt with, the dogs would naturally re-balance between the flocks and the sentinel dog would continue mobile surveillance.

• by ndespres on 11/5/15, 4:23 PM

  I keep 2 maremmas on my small farm to guard my livestock against predation. They are magnificent at what they do, chasing off ground predators as well as aerial ones. They immerse themselves in their flock and guard fiercely, working as a team to keep my chickens from getting eaten. I love how independent they are in their work, though in my case they aren't alone for more than a day at a time: one thing the maremmas can't do is milk my goats for me!

• by chris_wot on 11/5/15, 2:04 PM

  I watched the film Oddball with my son, it was actually pretty awesome. It's got Alan Tudyk, and the guy who played Kenny (Shane Jacobson), which is a guy who has a passion for portable dunnies (key movie quote "There's a smell in here that will outlast religion") [1].

  Watch them both if you want to understand Aussie culture :-)

  1. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822389/quotes

• by protomyth on 11/5/15, 4:42 PM

  When we finally make it to another planet, we will probably accidentally bring rats and cockroaches, but I cannot imagine not having work dogs along for the rest of the ride.

• by yitchelle on 11/5/15, 9:35 AM

  Saw this on the BBC last night. This is taking the idea of re-purposing to a new level.

• by dwd on 11/5/15, 10:12 PM

  Warrnambool native here.

  The problem with Middle Island is that it is occasionally land-bound. Building Warrnambool's iconic breakwater causes siltage to build up at the mouth of the Merri so it's not so much that foxes got onto the island but that they have access when the sandbars build up. Culling the foxes has never really worked either, so it's good to see something else being done to mitigate the damage we cause. There's a number of islands there but most are constantly land-bound so the penguins don't have much of a chance against foxes and feral cats. Middle island is their last refuge in the area.

• by anotherevan on 11/5/15, 9:16 PM

  Some friends of mine have alpacas to protect their chooks and other animals from foxes. They will just stomp them into the ground.