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So far, Canada geese pooh-pooh non-lethal efforts to expel them
Wednesday, May 17, 2000
By CANDACE HECKMAN
KIRKLAND -- The scary-faced balloons, it turned out, would not have startled a goose unless they popped under its tailfeathers.
The helium-filled "scarecrows" at Houghton Beach were one of a long list of gimmicks to rid local parks of annoying, federally protected Canada geese.
Animal rights activists have opposed efforts to exterminate the troublesome geese, saying that non-lethal methods are much more humane.
Yet cities around Lake Washington already spend thousands of dollars annually on goose-shooing tricks such as tying shiny Mylar tape and ribbons to bushes, planting colorful pinwheels and setting off firecrackers.
But the birds continue to congregate, grazing on new plantings and dropping about 3 pounds of feces per goose every day, forcing beach and park closures and bacteria warnings.
Frustrated, local officials this year asked federal agents to exterminate many of the trouble-making gaggles. U.S. Department of Agriculture officials have U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permission to kill as many as 3,500 Canada geese in the Puget Sound area this year. Agents have taken about 200 geese so far.
A moratorium was set, however, while the Humane Society of the United States and local animal rights groups attempt to stop the kill through a federal injunction. They filed a lawsuit last week in Seattle in what plaintiffs called a drastic move.
The Humane Society filed another lawsuit Monday against the federal agencies that involves the slaughter of up to 5,000 birds in Virginia, said Patricia Lane, the society's Washington, D.C., attorney.
So far, U.S. Fish and Wildlife offices across the country have issued countless kill permits along northern waterways, including permits to kill a total of 14,900 birds in the Great Lakes region.
As in Virginia, the animal rights groups contend that Western Washington cities did not provide specific proof of public health threats that would warrant the kill.
Lane said the Humane Society wants cities to use a combination of several different methods to control the geese. She said all the possibilities have not been exhausted. Local officials say they have tried everything.
Last year, Kirkland bought inflatable alligators.
"We were willing to try anything," said Mark Johnston, a city park manager. Unfortunately, kids playing in the water wore out the floating beach toys.
For the past few years, park officials have become desperate, grasping at any ideas to get rid of the birds.
"Geese are very smart. They've been figuring out everything so far," Johnston said, adding that turning the sprinklers on them will work sometimes, too.
Kirkland, with its seven major waterfront parks, signed a $50,000 contract this year with Kalcade Geese Police, a service that uses dogs to chase away birds.
Kirkland officials may not have to ask for agents to kill any birds, but officials will support decisions by other towns, Johnston said.
"It's not a permanent solution," Johnston said. "Just a Band-Aid."
The dogs are keeping most of the birds off Kirkland's lakefront, but no one really knows where they're going.
"Technically, it does not do anything to solve the problem," said Lynn Kalnoski, the Geese Police owner. "Basically, we're just managing the problem."
Seattle refuses to use the dogs, said Don Harris, director of the city's environmental programs.
"It just moves the problem from one beach to another, from one park to another," Harris said.
The city has caught flak from local animal lovers for taking this stand, but Harris said using the dogs in a place as big as Seattle would be unethical and a waste of money.
In Renton, workers have been preparing the new Cedar River Trails Park for a June 1 opening. But before they welcome people, rangers have to spurn the geese and pick up the poop.
The park has been under construction and renovation for two years. In that time, a few gaggles have called it home, Renton Park Director Leslie Betlach said.
"The sidewalks, I'm hearing, are a mess and we'll have to do a lot of cleaning on the trail itself," Betlach said. "We're hoping that once people begin using the park, it will chase the geese away."
She was uncertain whether the city would add the new park to its list of places patrolled by the Geese Police.
In addition to the dogs, the city uses an outdoor vacuum cleaner called the Gravely TurfVac. Originally designed for clearing cigarette butts and other small litter, the machine has been dubbed Renton's "pooper scooper." Betlach said that it has been "sort of" effective.
"We tried the vac. It didn't work very well," said Dan DeWald, Bellevue's natural resource manager. The ground is almost always wet and the feces becomes clumpy, he said.
P-I reporter Candace Heckman can be reached at 206-448-8346 or candaceheckman@seattle-pi.com
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
But they did not even frighten the Canada goslings, and managed only to evoke giggles from morning joggers-by.
Richard Doss, lead maintenance worker for Renton's city parks, vacuums up goose droppings at Cedar River Trails Park. Puget Sound area cities have spent thousands of dollars trying, with scant success, to get rid of the troublesome birds.
Renee C. Byer/P-I
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