‘Bark Ranger’ Gives Grounds Managers a Safety Boost

Human-animal interactions in national parks can always lead to problems for both sides. And in today’s selfie-obsessed climate, the potential for problems only increase.

Park officials do not want take away visitors’ access to wild animals — yes, bears and mountain lions can severely hurt or kill you, in case you haven’t noticed — but they do want visitors to enjoy from a distance and preserve the safety for all parties.

One of the ways for parks to control the interactions is to rely on border collies to help keep the wild animals from roaming to where they (or mostly self-aware humans) are at risk.

More than one border collie across the country is jealous of the “bark ranger” at Glacier National Park in Montana, named Gracie, whose job it is to keep animals like mountain goats and bighorn sheep from parking lots and comfortably away from park visitors.

A Washington Post online article discussed the Glacier park arrangement, and also cited other instances where the breed helps keep animals away from people — at Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada the border collies keep mule deer away from people. The collies also are geese police at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.

Faclitiesnet.com can serve as a resource for managers looking for ways to deal with wild animal, such as bird control, as well as view our webcast on the topic.

This quick read was submitted by Dave Lubach, associate editor for Facility Maintenance Decisions. Reach him at dave.lubach@tradepress.com.

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