Lasers, kites and trained dogs: how cities and towns in northeastern Ontario are dealing with problem geese

It's a perennial problem: trying to keep geese away from parks, paths, docks, boardwalks and other public places in northeastern Ontario. 

This spring, the Town of Blind River has installed kites shaped like hawks, owls and ospreys, to try to scare them away. 

"So we've done it as an experiment at our marina and along our town walk by by the river and in both places the geese have left," Mayor Sally Hagman said. 

"It's a great story."

Hagman said staff were asked to come with ideas on how to keep geese, and their droppings, off of the town's waterfront. 

"I was very surprised but pleasantly surprised because they don't hurt the environment and you can buy two kites for under $100 so it's not breaking the bank," she said.

"We have some beautiful parks and beaches and when the geese are there, they have excrement and it's not very pleasant for people to be walking around."

Hagman said so far, reaction has been positive.

"They love it, they really do," she said. "The children are fascinated by the kites and people are interested as to why the kites were there."

She said if they continue to see sucess, additional kites will be added throughout Blind River. 

"The geese haven't been telling me what they like and what they don't like, so I guess time will tell whether or not these kites are going to be continuing to be effective or not," Hagman said. 

'All dealing with the same problems'

In Greater Sudbury, the city has had a goose management program in place for more than a decade. 

Contractors are hired with trained dogs to scare away the geese. Loud bangers and lasers are also used to scare geese away from popular beaches and sports fields.

"It's a lot more effective than not having a program," said James St. John, superintendent of horticulture.

"The geese when they graze, it's the mess that they leave that we usually receive a lot of complaints. At a beach, you're in your bare feet so it's an unpleasant experience."

St. John said the goose population has been growing in the last 50 years and said the program does help to manage them, but he'd like to see the provincial or federal government step in to assist.

"I think it would definitely help because I know we're not the only municipality dealing with the issue. I know golf courses, farmers — we're all dealing with the same problems," he said.

As for using kites, St. John said he's not sure that's a long-term option.

"Unfortunately, without the human intervention, the geese kind of get used to those things and they're not deterred by it after awhile," he said.

For many years, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan welcomed hunters into municipal parks to shoot geese. The program ran its course when the geese started staying away and the hunters stopped applying for permits.