Dogs make great working animals, and it’s not uncommon to see pups working hard as we go about our lives, from police dogs to emotional support dogs.
Did you know, however, that dogs can also help other animals – even down to tiny bumblebees? And, there’s no expectation for any of the best dog treats afterward. Indeed, two Labradors from the Conservation Dogs Collection have been working hard for these small critters at Grant Woods Forest Preserve in Ingleside, Lake County, Illinois.
Ernie and Betty White, the two clever pups, were given the job for their ability to detect information – here, they had to locate bumblebee nests, which are usually found underground. Finding the nests helps researchers to study their habitat preference and colony behavior.
There are 12 species in Lake County, including the rusty patched bumblebee, which is endangered in the US. Kathryn McCabe, a wildlife ecologist, told The Daily Herald, “Bumblebees are very charismatic — they’re like a fluffy teddy bear,” she said. “Bumblebees are a nice gateway into the world of pollinators.”
McCabe has been among a group of scientists gathering data to help improve land restoration efforts, and hopefully boost the number of pollinators. We rely on the food crops that pollinators help to grow, but populations have declined sharply in recent years due to factors like climate change, use of pesticides, and loss of habitat.
However, dogs like Ernie and Betty White have a fantastic sense of smell – the part of a dog’s brain dedicated to analyzing smells is around 40 times greater than the human counterpart, and no human-made instrument is as good as a dog’s nose when it comes to smelling and scenting. Check out these 32 amazing things dogs do without even trying for more reasons why our canines are so remarkable!
Finding nests is always part of bumblebee monitoring in Lake County, but this is only the first year dogs have been used. McCabe said, “The expectation is to get more information on how we can best focus these searches and find more nests. You need pollinators for plant reproduction. Different plants support different insects and you move up the food chain from there.”
The dogs veer off the dedicated trail into huge fields of fall flowers and plants, and on into the woods. They go one at a time, with Betty White, who Laura Holder, the executive director of the Conservation Dogs Collective, describes as a “bounder”, going first, and Ernie going later.
Betty wears a GPS collar and hardly ever stops moving, unless she needs some water or gets some burrs or sticky seeds plucked from her fur.
Throughout the five sessions with the dogs this year, only one bumblebee nest was located, and it was in a different forest preserve. Two others, one active and one inactive, were found while other work was being done. But, because nests are only used for one year, it’s also important to find out where they have been.
And, as McCabe says, “Any data we get will be extremely valuable over time. I think we learned a lot from this effort and will reflect on the experience and how we can improve it moving forward.”
Even if your dog doesn’t need to carry out any work quite as important as this, however, they might still enjoy being given tasks to do. Take a look at this article for more insights: I gave my working dog a job and it transformed our relationship.
