And who could forget Punxsutawney Phil, one of the most famous animals with a job. Every year, the groundhog exits his winter den in February as thousands of onlookers in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, wait to see if his shadow is visible. If it is, legend says six more weeks of bad wintry weather is ahead.Since the 1980s, hundreds of ducks have patrolled Vergenoegd Löw The Wine Estate outside Cape Town, South Africa. It’s a centuries-old practice that helps keep the vineyard free of pests. Look through the gallery to learn more about the army of ducks protecting vines, and other animals with jobs that might surprise you.Today, the winery ’employs’ some 1,600 Indian Runner ducks — a flightless species with a peculiarly upright stance and highly developed sense of smell. As ducks cruise around the vineyard grounds, they eat pests such as snails, fertilizing the ground as they go.The ducks aren’t always at work; they do get ‘annual leave’ from the winery during harvest, to prevent them from eating the grapes. During that time, they forage on an open farm pasture, swim in a nearby lake, and undergo selective breeding, according to Corius Visser, Vergenoegd Löw’s managing director.In neighboring Mozambique, African rats have helped sniff out land mines since the end of the country’s brutal civil war. Trained by a Belgian de-mining research team, the animals have a keen sense of smell and acquire their skills easily.When it comes to a threat of underwater mines, the US Navy turns to its Marine Mammal Program, which trains sea lions and dolphins, like the one pictured here in San Diego, California. The animals helped military operations in the Persian Gulf, aiding with swimmer defense and detecting possible ordnance in the water.In the Baden-Baden district of southwestern Germany, herds of dwarf goats like this one are Mother Nature’s lawn mowers — eating grass, hedges and bushes.The All England Tennis Club, which hosts The Wimbledon Championships, is one of the hallowed grounds of tennis. The Hawk-Eye system is used to track the ball during matches — but it’s not the only additional set of aerial eyeballs. Hawks, like Hamish (pictured), are employed to chase pigeons away from the famed grass courts.Animal royalty reaches a new level with elected dog mayors in some small US towns including Wilbur, a French bulldog, posing here for a portrait in November 2020. He’s the latest mayoral dog in Rabbit Hash, Kentucky — which has been electing canines since 1998.In St. Petersburg, Russia, the State Hermitage Museum is home to a battalion of ‘Aristocats’ that keep one of the world’s largest museums mouse-free.The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, also relies on the help of a four-legged friend. Pictured here in 2018 when he was 12 weeks old, Riley the Weimaraner has been trained to detect everything from security threats to moths and other pests that pose a danger to the museum’s collection.
