For a couple of years the city put up little string fences along the bay in Monteray Park and they did work. Last year without the little string fences there was poop all over the bike trail.
This is something that worked and did not disturb, kill, or otherwise upset the balance of nature. So why did they quit using them?

I have my doubts about the long-term effectiveness of the cut-outs, but it's worth a try. I sent Ray a few bucks to help cover his paint costs.

I think the best solution would be to hire someone to shoot the geese with a pellet rifle and donate the meat to local food pantries. It wouldn't take too long before surviving geese wised up and avoided the city parks. Once the flocks were thinned to just a few birds, the hunting could be stopped until their numbers increased again.

A couple of geese in the park are a pretty sight. Being able to slide through the park on goose poop faster than a teen could skateboard it is not pretty.

People need to wake up ! the Geese are a huge problem. Yes they are a beautiful bird, that being said, there are to many and yes they crap on everything ! I frequent boat ramps everywhere in southern Wisconsin and I would like to say they can ruin every pier that is around. My boat is very nice and I try to keep it that way but when you walk through goose crap every square inch it is hard to so. They are a big problem people ! in parks,trails,boat ramps,piers and so on. In my opinion they are rats with wings. Coyote cut outs will work for a VERY SHORT TIME,why ? because they are not stupid, compare this to a scarecrow in a field of sweetcorn does it work NOT!!!!! We need an open season on Canada geese 365 days a year. It wont cure the problem but it may control it to a degree.

I tend to agree with PattyA...we make the decision to create "parks" (or memorials) in a natural habitat and then get mad when nature gets in the way of our fun? I understand that goose poop is a disgusting problem and that the geese can be aggressive, but it is their home. I wouldn't come into your house and then argue I should be able to shoot you when things you do annoy or inconvenience me. There are about 4000 parks in this town, choose a different one. There are lots and lots of lakes around here with public fishing and swimming areas, go there. Enjoying nature is all fine and dandy until it gets too dirty or too inconvenient. The geese aren't the problem, we are for taking over their habitat and then expecting them to clean up their act or go away.

You too, Wislady :-)

PattyA: Joined January 8th, 2 posts.
Awesomely sharp and spicy.

Kill them. Remember the flight downed over NYC? Kill them and contribute the meat to charity. And no, my computer has not been taken over. And wow, Wislad doesn't support gun owners.

Just don't eat the poop. I think they might land on the cutouts.
Patty well said. IT is nature. Wear shoes with out heavy tread. lol I hate when birds poop on my car. Lets kill them? You have to avoid the poop at the fair but they still let those darn animals in there.

What happened to "coexist"?

So the geese are hanging around too long in Wisconsin and you are annoyed?

Instead of whining about "goose poop" getting in the way of your fishing fun, why don't you actually investigate WHY the geese are hanging around?

(hint, hint: Maybe the geese don't have to migrate due to warmer temperatures and lakes that don't freeze up?)

If humans had any sense we would wake up to what is actually happening around us and how we have accelerated it and realize actual danger.

But, no, we just whine about inconveniences like "goose poop" (which is actually recycled grass) and ignore the larger picture.

What a pathetic and myopic piece of writing.

I would be embarrassed to sign my name to this so-called "opinion" piece based on personal gripe and zero fact.

You know what they say about "opinions."

"It seems" to you geese are a "health hazard?"

On what scientific grounds are you basing that conclusion? Inconvenience?

As long as we are going to utilize inconvenience, paranoia and annoyance as reasons for rationalizing and launching campaigns against nature,then allow me to express MY annoyance with fishermen who discard fishing lines and hooks around parks to maim and cripple wildlife. (Nothing like going to a park to enjoy nature and seeing birds ensnared and unable to walk due to fishing line choking off circulation in leg or in some cases, actually breaking the leg.)

Geese mainly eat grass. Their "poop" which is seemingly the bane of your existence is little more than recycled grass and actually works as fertilizer. Goose poop represents NO "hazard" to human health, unless for some inexplicable reason someone decides to eat it (or any poop).

If you are so annoyed and inconvenienced by waterfowl, then it is suggested you seek your jollies somewhere else besides lakes, ponds or streams -- places that naturally attract geese and other waterfowl.

I am not a fan of large crowds. I therefore avoid going to Superbowl games or Times Square on New Year's Eve.

But, I don't write Op Ed's suggesting we need to find ways to get rid of these things because I personally don't get my kicks from them.

What a pity we cannot learn to live PEACEFULLY with nature. Forget what that says about geese.

What does it say about US?

We should introduce wolves into the park system. Shooting the geese makes too much sense.