Fox Valley Park District is using an all-natural way to control the goose population in its parks — dogs.
The district for the past eight years has been using Wild Goose Chase Inc., which deploys dogs to deter the geese from getting too comfortable at Aurora area venues.
Chicago Ridge-based Wild Goose Chase, which is licensed through the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, deploys teams of border collies to shoo away the geese.
“The Canada geese use the Fox River shoreline as a highway to travel to different areas to nest, raise their families and live safely from predators,” said Vanessa Williams, Research Program Director at Wild Goose Chase.
She said the Fox River valley has a relatively high population of Canada geese. She said the area’s population of geese is “unbalanced” for what the ecosystem is designed to support, in large part because of mowed turf and fruit trees which are an ideal food source.
Williams said the goose population is booming because natural predators are few, and geese can live up to 30 years.
She said the company is called for its services mainly out of concerns for the health and welfare of visitors, whether it is a public park, school campus or corporate area.
“Geese poop about every eight minutes and can leave roughly two pounds of droppings per bird per day. Dozens of geese congregating in an area can mean hundreds of pounds of poop in a day,” she said.
She said the feces “can contain pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites that can make people and pets sick.”
Local officials said that although geese are beautiful creatures and intriguing to watch, they can be a nuisance when they eat native plants and leave plenty of their droppings behind.
“They see newly planted areas as a smorgasbord,” said Jeff Mengler, president of the Fox River Ecosystem Partnership.
The group, whose mission is to protect and enhance 1,720 square miles of the Fox River watershed that covers 10 counties, partners with government entities such as the Fox Valley Park District.
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“We advocate the planting of native plants to stabilize the river banks as part of our stormwater management efforts,” Mengler said. “We also look for ways to keep the geese moving along.”
Canada geese are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Illinois Wildlife Code. It is illegal to kill or remove geese or destroy their nests or eggs without a permit from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
“The most prevalent locations for geese are along our riverfront parks,” said Jeff Palmquist, senior director of planning, research and grants for the Fox Valley Park District. “We are not doing anything with the nests or eggs. We just try to make it less pleasant for them to hang out and become a nuisance.”
Williams said that aside from the mess they leave and potential health risks, geese are known to be aggressive during the nesting season and when they are raising their young. She said the company deploys roughly 30 border collies throughout the Milwaukee and Chicago areas to discourage geese.
“The border collie is a herding dog. Instead of herding sheep, we train them to herd geese,” Williams said.
She said the border collie has a natural predatory look that can be intimidating to geese, especially when they are poised as though they are going to stalk a herd.
“The geese feel like they are being hunted by a predator. However, the dogs are not interested in grabbing or hurting the birds,” she said.
Williams said the dogs are trained only to move the geese off site.
“We train the dogs how to do it safely,” she said.
Williams said personal pet owners should not try to use their own dogs to shoo away the water fowl, as injuring a bird can result in a hefty fine.
According to Williams, after the dogs have been around for a while the geese get discouraged. Typically the border collies and an animal behaviorist will service an area seven days a week from March to the early summer.
“The geese can be stubborn,” she said. “We’re conditioning them to think this is no longer a safe site to hang out. For the first couple of weeks they return but if we are there every day it prevents them from returning.”
Fox River Ecosystem Partnership Vice President Maggie Soliz had a personal encounter with a Canada goose while riding her bicycle on the Fox River Trail near the Geneva dam.
“I noticed several adult geese and goslings hovering close to the bike path. As I rode past, one of them hit me in the back with his feet,” said Soliz, who lives in Batavia. “Fortunately he didn’t smack me in the head. My friend was riding right behind me and witnessed the whole thing. She was stunned.”
Soliz said the goose’s webbed feet didn’t hurt but it did send a message.
“I came too close to her babies,” Soliz said.
“People do need to proceed with caution if they see geese with their goslings. The Canada geese can be very protective,” she said.
Soliz said the development of the river shoreline and parks along the Fox River essentially has created “the perfect” habitat for Canada geese.
Water fowl are attracted to mowed grassy areas, river banks and detention ponds, she said. That makes the work of the dogs being brought in to control the goose population especially important, she said.
“Geese are habitual creatures. They will nest where they were born. The idea is to break the pattern,” Soliz said.