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News SCOTIA: A wild goose chase Posted on: 05/30/07 Jennifer Farnsworth, Contributing Writer email: news@spotlightnews.com Mary Liebau took time out of her Memorial Day weekend to come to Collins Park in Scotia and show off what is the latest hope for the village to keep the Canada geese from sticking around. Liebau and her border collies were at the park Monday morning, May 28, giving a demonstration on how the dogs will be used on a month-to-month basis in an effort to chase away the geese. Spokeswoman for Save the Geese Laura Brown said Liebau is a professional goose chaser, and owner of Coast is Clear Farm & Kennels. Save the Geese, a group dedicated to using humane methods to keep the goose population down, has leased one of her collies for the summer to help patrol the park. “Everyone who has seen Mary has raved about her work. Save the Geese will be trained on how to use the collie,” said Brown. Using border collies to chase geese in public areas such as parks, athletic fields and golf courses has been a successful hazing method in various parts of the country, including Clifton Park. The goal of Save the Geese has been to reduce the Canada goose population in Collins Park in order to prevent a mass extermination program that had been planned last year when an abundance of geese led to unsanitary conditions in the park and lake. The group worked around the clock to chase the geese away during the summer and early fall. Erica Scott, a member of Save the Geese, said that because the geese often return after the “hazers” leave the park, the group decided to broaden its approach by using trained border collies. Save the Geese has raised the money to rent the dogs, but continues to seek donations and volunteers to help with the hazing program. “The border collies are especially trained for this purpose and are successfully used in goose-human conflict projects around the country,” said Scott. Scott said that until now, the group’s goal has been to keep the park as free of goose droppings as possible and assist in the village in “oiling” eggs, a humane method of eventually reducing the goose population. Scott said Mayor Kris Kastberg and the village have been supportive of their efforts. Park Supervisor Jim Marx said there are currently about 75 geese in the park. “We would like the number to actually be more around 30,” said Marx. Liebau is based out of Madison County. The collies wear life jackets while working. Liebau said the dogs, Clyde, Patch, Meg and Hope work in the water as well as on boats. “They are hard workers. They work tirelessly,” said Liebau. You can contact news@spotlightnews.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below. Comments powered by Disqus |
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