Columbia's goose problem goes to the dogs
Hey, a dog doing what it was bred to do! How great is that? And, it is the best solution to this problem. Very nice.
From St.LouisToday.com
Columbia's goose problem goes to the dogs
By Kat Hughes
COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE
04/13/2008
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Crouched on the bank of Stephens Lake, Dulce, a 3-year-old border collie, perks her ears, listening, watching and waiting.
Two geese down the shore eye the dog as they edge away. A wing flaps tentatively, a nervous honk escapes, and Dulce is off, streaking across the sandy bank in a black blur toward the geese, who take refuge in the safety of the water, honking indignantly as they swim away.
Dulce plunges in after them, then turns back to dry land, dragging a stick out of the water to help her celebrate a job well done.
Dulce recently started a job as the city of Columbia's official goose-chaser. The job pays $500 a month, and perks include free rein of Stephens Lake Park twice a day, plenty of exercise and all the sticks Dulce can handle.
After trying a litany of suggestions to rid Stephens Lake Park of nuisance geese, the Columbia Parks and Recreation Department has turned to nature to solve the problem by using a predator's presence to deter geese from the area.
"We've tried everything from the very reasonable, like shooting chasers, all the way to the very bizarre, like sounding a goose distress signal," Parks Services Manager Mike Griggs said.
Griggs said the Canada geese enjoy the recent improvements to Stephens Lake Park as much as people do, and they don't want to leave.
The problem, Griggs said, is that while most people are fond of the animals, they are not fond of what they leave behind. Goose droppings contain bacteria such as fecal coliform and E. coli.
When the city rounded up about 200 of the geese in 2006 and "harvested" them, resulting in some meaty donations to local food banks, Griggs said the action drew vigorous resident criticism and also a suggestion.
The St. Louis chapter of GeesePeace, a national group dedicated to protecting the animals, said one of the most effective ways to rid the park of the geese also was one of the simplest: Use a border collie to scare them away.
Enter Dulce, who belongs to Kathy Love, a retired 17-year employee of the Missouri Department of Conservation.
The plan, Love said, initially is to scare the geese with the dog twice a day, making sure to keep an irregular schedule so that the geese don't become accustomed to Dulce's presence at certain times.
"They are drawn to manicured areas where they can get out and feed without worrying about predators coming out of tall grass," Love said. "We're sending them the message that this is an unpleasant place to be and maybe they'd be happier somewhere else."
The city will try out Dulce's gaggle-splitting services during April and May. These are the most important months to the birds, Love said, because it's their nesting season, and they can become especially aggressive during this time, to the point where they will stand up to Dulce and even humans. "We're hoping to not get to that point," Love said.
As for Dulce, Love said she might have found her calling. "She's in the remedial level in her dog-training classes," Love said. "The words 'sit' and 'stay' don't seem to be in her vocabulary."
Or maybe she just understands honks better.
