June 24th- This year council employed a private contractor who ended up scaring the Geese away with a Humane approach – a Laser Beam! To all those who said it can not be done well it was done and beach is a whole lot cleaner for it!
“What can be done about the villainous Canada goose? The Town of Essex wants to know.
The municipality is the latest in the region to look into goose “mitigation” methods — ways of preventing Canada’s namesake birds from hanging around and befouling Colchester Beach with their droppings.
“It’s the kind of poop that really sticks to your feet,” said Coun. Sherry Bondy, whose motion was discussed by Essex town council on Monday.
“When anybody tries to put down a towel, or go for a walk, or drag a stroller, or bring their children — the poop is there.”
Bondy said she has been hearing complaints from residents for years about the Canada goose situation on the beach and its harbour.
At certain times of the day, on certain days of the week, the area becomes crowded with large, black-headed waterfowl.
Bondy said goose feces is so prevalent in the area, she wonders if it has an impact on the water’s bacteria counts.
“There are 30 to 40 geese on the beach, at times,” Bondy said when reached on Tuesday.
“If the beach is full of people, they’re not there. But they come in the mornings. They come when it’s not busy.”
The motion that was unanimously approved by council on Monday directs town administration to research the issue and provide a report.
Among the suggested strategies: Hiring a resident to walk a dog in the area multiple times a day, in order to scare the geese away.
“It’s very humane, and it teaches the geese different habits,” Bondy said. “I think it can be done for low cost.”
Bondy said she’s also heard about a harmless, environmentally-friendly laser device that can be set up to annoy and dissuade geese.
“I think we owe it to our residents to try,” she said. “Maybe there’s something new we can do. Our council has never formally asked for an action plan on this.”
Other municipalities in the region have already committed time and resources to goose-frightening techniques.
Earlier this year, the Town of Tecumseh employed trained border collies to chase geese away from Lakewood Park.
And last fall, the City of Windsor experimented with wooden wolf silhouettes in an attempt to deter geese from the downtown riverfront.
But Essex Mayor Larry Snively warned that there’s no surefire strategy when it comes to the Canada goose.”