{image1}The Milwaukee County Parks might be more enjoyable if outdoor enthusiasts didnt have to hop, skip and jump over piles of goose poop when golfing, jogging or strolling.
Thats why Milwaukee County Parks System director Sue Black and golf operations manager Brian Zimmerman have tapped Wild Goose Chase, Inc. to get the geese to skedaddle from Brown Deer Park and Golf Course.
These birds are overstaying their welcome at plenty of other parks, Black says. Actually all over the country, she says, but it's economics that has Brown Deer being targeted for the cleanup. It creates the most revenue of all the parks.
Were thinking the investment in keeping the golf course clean will pay off in greens fees through the fall, admits Black.
The project costs about $1,500 and runs through the end of October. Black says there is a three-pronged process to get these geese packing.
The first step, she says, is, addling.
Shaking the eggs, basically, and thats a program through the DNR. And then step two is the actual removal of the geese, and then third is to use Collies to chase them away.
You have two issues, says Zimmerman. One is the residents (geese) and then the others are the migratory birds. And the addling program thats been done for quite a number of years is actually decreasing the residents.
Zimmerman says that once the resident geese flee and the migratory birds start to come, theyll know that its not a hospitable place and then continue to look for a new location.
They have confidence in this process. There are other approaches, such as scattering jalapeno peppers to leave an unpleasant surprise for the birds taste buds, but thats usually just a short-term fix, Zimmerman says.
Wild Goose Chase, Inc. did a demo of the program in fall 2002 at several parks in the Milwaukee County system, with what Zimmerman described as, "Very good results.
Every time they come on the property theres a little box that monitors the times and how effective they are, says Zimmerman. And then we can find out exactly how theyre moving them and where theyre moving them. Over the years theyve done some trials, and theres data supporting that it does work."
Black and Zimmerman agree, however, that the public can play an important role in getting rid of the geese and what they leave behind.
The public needs to be aware of the fact that feeding the geese in the Milwaukee County Park System is against an ordinance, and theres actually a fine, says Zimmerman. And feeding the geese is part of the problem because it actually cultivates relationships with them, and thats why they stay.
So, leave the bread crumbs at home and ignore the Mary Poppins feed-the-birds scene because that just leads normally migratory birds to remain here year 'round, exacerbating the problem.
