All is still at Airlie Gardens these chilly, dewy early spring mornings. Visitors haven’t yet arrived, but a flock of geese sits quietly on the Airlie Gardens Lake, until the geese get a glimpse of Airlie Garden’s newest employee – a black-and-white border collie named Reilly. The geese are about 20 feet from the edge and honk at him, trying to scare him but as Reilly doesn’t shake so easily. Ignoring the loud honking, Reilly growled and stared the birds down until they turned and began to paddle the other way.
Reilly has been working at Airlie Gardens since last August to help curb the problem caused by the growing Canada Geese population that have settled at the county-owned facility. For the past couple of years, the geese have caused huge problems at Airlie. The birds had wrecked some of the turf and flower beds; and the staff notes that cleaning up the geese droppings had become a never-ending task.
The gardens had a full-time employee dedicated to it. The road by the lake looked like it was gravel because there were so many droppings on it. He would barely get finished cleaning it before he would have to start over and do it again. They knew they needed to find a more sustainable solution and the idea of using a border collie was brought to their attention.
Using a border collie has been proven to be effective, environmentally responsible and humane. The collie is not trying to catch the geese, but is rather using its natural instinct to herd them. Still, it was a challenge to find exactly the right border collie for the job. He needed the right balance of herding skills and being good around people, since the park gets so many visitors. After a couple of months of searching, the Airlie Gardens Supervisor found Reilly at the Carolina Border Collie Rescue. Reilly had been abandoned by a breeder because of his conformation flaws. They said his long tongue and a pink spot on his nose would have kept him from being a show dog and evidently, the breeder did not think he could fetch a high-enough price.
Before his adoption, the Carolina Border Collie Rescue kept Reilly at a foster home in Pittsboro, N.C., where he began to show off his natural herding skills. His lovable demeanor impressed his foster family, but he still needed a permanent home. A volunteer at the rescue said they received many applications for Reilly, but none seemed like quite the right fit until they received the application from Airlie Gardens. Reilly comes at no cost to New Hanover County. All of his expenses are paid for by the Airlie Foundation, including his herding training. Reilly has about eight months of training left.
This training goes far beyond the basic training most puppies receive. In addition to “sit,” and “stay,” Reilly must learn commands such as “come by,” and “that’ll do.” “Come by” means to do a clockwise loop around the herd, and “that’ll do” means to come back. Reilly will make a great addition to Airlie Gardens and a very cute attraction for the gardens!
