After taking a 90-degree career change from the culinary world, Mark Klaudt now spends his days organizing flocks of birds around town.

Ever since their introduction to the streets of Okotoks, the Bird e-scooters have been a hit. A successful pilot program in 2021 led to them becoming a staple around town leading into 2022.

Klaudt along with a small crew is in charge of the Okotoks fleet which consists of around 140 e-scooters.

"It's a lot of fun," explains Klaudt. "You get to bomb out and round the town and chat to people while you're dropping them off. It's always interesting to see how many people just have questions about how they work and how they operate."

This role involves charging, fixing and organizing them around the community. 

Recently the scooters have been the subjects of vandalism; something they prepared for but still an expensive hit to the fleet as each scooter costs around $1400. 

"We probably had about 15 to 20 now that were damaged beyond being able to repair in the season so far. That's everything from wear and tear to people literally throwing them in the ponds and we have to pick them out of the water. 

"We've got one in the river that we could never find."

a destroyed scooter in OkotoksRCMP and fire personnel found what remains of a scooter after being set ablaze earlier in the month.

This means fewer scooters in the town for residents to enjoy and more time for Klaudt who has to either repair or replace these machines. 

"It's always that part that hits my heart a little bit you know."

The scooters track information on the last user but that's not always the individual doing the damage making it difficult for Bird or RCMP to track down who's responsible. 

Anyone with information on past incidents or who sees vandalism in progress is asked to contact Okotoks RCMP at (403) 995-6400 or contact Mark Klaudt at 311_okotoks@birdcanada.com or on their Instagram.