City officials on a wild goose chase, literally

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ^ | Tuesday, April 22, 2003 | Kellie B. Gormly

[Willie Green]

"They'll start looking for handouts," said Matt Marcinek, assistant regional manager for region two of Pennsylvania State Parks. "They have a natural fear, but become less afraid if you feed them."

The birds can become especially volatile during the mating season, when simply walking by an unknown nest can trigger a wild goose chase from a protective daddy goose. The birds' squawk is not worse than their bite: Geese beaks are strong and can damage the skin, he said.

[Willie Green]

I've heard that a pair of swan, who have made a local pond their home, will drive away flocks of nuisance migrating geese.

[Willie Green]

ping

[WaveThatFlag]

I've heard that a pair of swan, who have made a local pond their home, will drive away flocks of nuisance migrating geese.

It is the year-round geese that are the real nuisance. These flocks cause a lot of damage, are not natural, and should be culled.

[Blueflag]

Living on a lake, I can tell you that non-migratory Canadian geese are a noisy, messy, disruptive, flower-spoiling pain in the arse.

I can tell you, however, that a doggie-shock-fence transformer, strategicaly placed wires in the water, and a push button switch in the basement have enabled us to train the geese away from our property without harming the geese.

Sure does make 'em move fast theifrst couple times. But they are smart, learn, and seem to be able to tell other geese.

[Renfield]

Hee hee hee!! And if you want a goose dinner, all you have to do is "goose" the amperage up a little bit....

[WaveThatFlag]

A pair of swans also works well.

[martin_fierro]

I imagine goose would work as well as duck:

CZARNINA -- POLISH DUCK SOUP

[Eala]

A pair of swans also works well.

But swans can be a problem too. Not far from here the developer of a developent cutely named "Swan Lake" (the new name for what used to be "Peterson Pond") decided it would be nice to have a couple of swans on the pond, er, lake. But they got aggressive, and dangerous (a swan can break a child's bones, I am told), and had to be removed.

But I concur about the Canada geese. They've been a big problem here in Washington, where it's pretty much illegal even to annoy them. I used to cycle-commute along a river, and in the spring they'd move sometimes to attack me. On top of that they'd leave dangerously slippery patches on the trail. We have public beaches that have had to be closed because the beach and waters were so heavily fouled. And yet, even a proposal to cut their numbers by spraying their eggs with oil draws the enviros' ire.

[WaveThatFlag]

And yet, even a proposal to cut their numbers by spraying their eggs with oil draws the enviros' ire.

That's because the migratory geese ARE endangered. But since the two populations never mix (they are intolerant of eachother even being on the same lake) this does nothing to solve the problem.