Posted on 05/17/2015 8:37:24 AM PDT by JoeProBono
WASHINGTON -- U.S. National Park Service officials fed up with goose droppings on the National Mall in Washington are calling for backup -- the four-legged enforcers known as the Geese Police.
Parks officials announced Thursday the Geese Police -- who are not actual police but rather a group of border collies trained to ward off trespassing water fowl -- will be patrolling the National Mall to keep the geese from befouling National Mall landmarks including the Lincoln Memorial.
The officials said just one goose can leave behind 2-3 pounds of feces in a single day and the unwanted excrement can damage pipes and filters in the reflecting pool as well as posing a health nuisance for visitors.
David Marks, founder of Geese Police, said he expects the goose problem to subside after a few weeks of work by his dogs.
"A problem that has been a problem for 8, 9, 10 years usually takes us 6 to 8 weeks to get a handle on," Marcks told NBC Washington.
Marcks said the dogs are trained not to be distracted by friendly humans while they're on patrol.
"The only thing he or she cares about is working," Marcks said.
The National Park Service said the geese will not be harmed by the dogs, merely chased away.
The service said the contract with Geese Police will last a year with an option to extend for four more years if officials are happy with the results.
How about all the excrement in the White House and Congress ?
This has been tried for years on golf courses, and most time doesn’t work. Geese are smart, and tough, and soon learn to ignore the dogs..
“The only thing he or she cares about is working,” Marcks said.
Let’s put Marcks in charge of the federal employees in D. C.
That's impressive.
I can’t imagine a more perfect job for a dog than chasing a bird.
It’s just wrong that we are so squeamish in the U.S. that we won’t do anything to control animal populations — geese, deer, bears, coots.
Goose Busters. My dogs will chase geese for free, except there is some crazy 1915 law against it.
or Politicians?
Boy, when those things congregate they can mess an area up. Unmentioned is how horrible their leavings are—Blechh
A big part of the problem in WI is that anyone who puts up a parking lot now has to put in a retention pond. This attracts non-migratory geese and keeps them in areas (cities) where they cannot be hunted. Thus there is an over-population.
agreed - they are obviously overpopulated. same around here.
Get some swans. They’ll kill the baby geese faster than the geese can produce them.
What an excellent solution. In some towns, they just murder the geese. Not OK.
My dogs don’t stop the chase at the waters edge....Habituated geese seem surprised.
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