By Ann Marie Shambaugh
They’re on patrol seven days a week, eyes trained to spot perpetrators hiding around every corner. Their marked vehicles are loaded with all of the necessary weapons to safely fulfill their mission.
Which, in this case, is chasing away Canada geese.
Six years ago, Michael and Sally Wyatt launched the only Indiana-based franchise of the Geese Police, a service that uses specially trained border collies to remove the pesky birds from properties. Clients include schools, office parks, cemeteries, apartment complexes and more.
The Zionsville couple and their employees patrol their routes throughout Central Indiana two to three times each day. If geese are present at a stop, the herding dogs startle them away not with a snarl or a bark but with an intense stare known as “the eye.”
“By their stalking and the eye, the geese believe they are being tracked by a predator, and their preservation instinct kicks in, and they leave,” Michael said. “The dog’s desire is to get to the other side of the birds and get them to my feet, but they don’t have a chance because the birds fly away.”
The dogs never touch the geese, which has led to the Geese Police’s methods being recommended by Humane Society of the United States and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“We’re providing a service that is humane,” Sally said. “It’s a green process, too. We don’t use chemicals. We don’t use anything to harm the environment.”
Hatching a plan
The idea for the Geese Police of Central Indiana hatched several years ago when Sally was working at Altum’s Horticulture and Landscape, where geese would often congregate in the ponds.
Michael would bring the family’s Australian shepherd to Altum’s in an attempt to put her to work chasing off the geese, but it soon became clear that wasn’t a viable solution.
“It became obvious very quickly that the Aussie had no interest in the geese,” Michael said. “All she wanted to do was socialize with the people at the nursery.”
He began to wonder, however, if other types of dogs or training methods had worked in this situation, and his research led him to Geese Police, Inc., which is based out of New Jersey. The couple decided to visit the company founder to learn more and agreed that they wanted to start their own franchise.
“It was a natural thing to be able to work with dogs, and we didn’t know anything about geese at the time,” Michael said. “Obviously we’ve learned a lot since then.”
Now, the Wyatts are experts in Canada goose behavior, signs of aggression and vulnerabilities. They’ve developed a respect for the bird, which they describe as beautiful, majestic and stubborn. And although their job is to chase them away, they do what they can to try and protect them.
In the summertime, for example, the geese molt their pin feathers, leaving them unable to fly for about six weeks. People are often unaware of this, Michael said, and expect the geese to launch into the air as they drive toward them. Many of the birds don’t survive these encounters.
When Sally sees the birds waddling across the road in the summertime, she leaps into action.
“I will stop, park, get out and stop traffic and help them get across the road,” she said, “because it’s the right thing to do.”
The problem
The Wyatts said they hear reaction from across the spectrum when they’re working a site, from people asking why they don’t just kill the geese to those who become angry that they are disturbing the birds. They spend a lot of time educating people about their methods and the problems caused by Canada geese.
One adult goose can leave more than a pound of droppings per day, and it can include giardia, e coli, toxoplasmosis and other harmful parasites and bacteria. The geese are also known for destroying grassy areas and have raised concerns about their effect on water quality.
The Canada goose population grows by 10 to 17 percent annually or more, Michael said, and with few natural predators, the Geese Police foresee continued growth in numbers – and conflict with humans – in the future.
“They’re gorgeous birds. They’re very majestic in a lot of ways,” Sally said. “Unfortunately they’re not serving a purpose where they are.”
Facts about the Canada Goose
- It has a life span of up to 24 years.
- The average nest size is 5 to 8 eggs.
- Population growth ranges from 10 to 17 percent annually.
- An adult goose will drop between 1.5 and 2 pounds of fecal matter daily.
- In spring and summer, geese concentrate their feeding on grasses and sedges. During fall and winter, they rely more on berries and seeds, including agricultural grains. Two subspecies have adapted to urban environments and graze on domesticated grasses year round.
- Geese are imprinting birds. Adult geese typically return to the same nesting sites each spring. Goslings born on the property will return to that site when it is able to mate (typically age 2).
- From mid-June thru late July, adult geese molt their pin feathers rendering them flightless for up to a six-week period.
- Migratory geese have a flight range of 2,000 to 3,000 miles
- Resident geese have a flight range around 100 to 200 miles to find food, water and safety.
Source: Geesepolicein.com.
