Interesting Photo of the Day: Piper the Airport Guard Dog

Interesting Photos

Remember when we got you to concede that a tiny garden vole was probably a better photographer than you? Well, here’s another photograph to keep you humble. We’re pretty sure that this airport guard dog named Piper is cooler than all humans ever:

Airport Dog (Via Imgur. Click image to see full size.)

K-9 Piper is a 7 year-old border collie. Wearing full protective gear, Piper works at the Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan alongside his handler Brian Edwards as part of the airport’s K-9 wildlife control team. Piper’s breed makes him perfectly suited to chase birds and other wildlife off of runways and taxiways.

As of March 3, 2016, the team’s website reports that Piper has chased 2,450 large species birds, like loons and owls, that could potentially damage aircraft. He has also patrolled 597 miles and logged 2,641 hours—all on a volunteer basis.

Predictably, Piper has his own Instagram account, where the team posts epic photos and videos of the now-experienced pup on duty. Here’s a clip from Piper’s YouTube channel during his recent leave of absence, while he was recovering from a paw injury:

“He’ll look at the airplanes and he knows it’s a bad thing, but [the aircraft noise] doesn’t scare him anymore,” Edwards told MLive.com in early 2015. Then in November 2015, Edwards said, “He absolutely loves chasing the snowy owl. It’s his favorite thing to chase and it’s the thing that we’ve been most successful at.”