Abstract
Effectiveness of a dog (Canis lupus familiaris) for protecting citrus fruits from bird damage was investigated using a citrus orchard (5.8a in area) in the harvest season. In Exp. 1, a Border collie shepherd (male) was tied to a wire extended along oneside of the square orchard to allow him to run along the inner side of the orchard. This watchdog system was effective in reducing fruit damage by birds (mainly brown-eared bulbul) only in the citrus tree row nearest to the dog runway. In Exp. 2, the orchard was enclosed with a tall chain-link fence and the same dog was allowed to move freely in the orchard. In this case, he persevered in chasing birds until they flew away from the orchard. This watchdog system effectively reduced bird damage to citrus fruits all over the orchard, resulting in an increase of crop yield by about 17.5kga-1 per day. Further study is needed on the optimum number of dogs released per unit orchard area and the effectiveness of the watchdog system in case when this bird control system is spread to all orchards in the citrus-growing area.
