'Geese Police' Clean Up Havre de Grace
Rich LaPorta and his dog Boo get to work scaring geese away from the Lock House Museum.
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It's a brisk March morning in Havre de Grace and a man and his dog are doing what they love—chasing geese.
Rich LaPorta with Geese Police of Maryland along with his dog Booger, or Boo for short, are charged with clearing geese out of certain parts of the city.
"The magnitude of the goose situation was fully realized when City, County and State Officials began planning for the numerous high profile events that will take place on Concord Point and other City parks for the Commemoration of the War of 1812," a release from the City of Havre de Grace states.
On Friday, LaPorta and Boo were out at the Lock House Museum for the third day in a row, and their method has already started to work (see attached video).
Boo and the business' four other dogs are Border Collies trained to herd and not hurt geese, but the geese don't know that. LaPorta explained the geese fly away from the dogs, believing they are predators, and usually steer clear of an area after about two weeks of visits from the Geese Police.
Sometimes the geese get the hint sooner, which seems to be the case in Havre de Grace. After seeing about 30 to 40 geese a day at the Lock House, LaPorta was pleased to find only two there Friday. He said it's likely the pair will stick around because they are nesting.
The city says members of the community can help the process along by not feeding the geese.
For more videos on the Geese Police you can visit the company's website.
Charlie Vasilakis
9:07 am on Saturday, March 16, 2013
Kudos to the City (and probably one individual council member) for taking this action.
At the Lock House, we've tried everything from coyote decoys to reflective tape to mitigate the growing problem. It's produced little success, and even an irate response from a goose feeder critical of our efforts. Let's call these birds what they really are now: NOT Canada Geese, but Havre de Grace Geese. As the article states, it's more than an appearance issue -- it's a health matter as well. Well done, HdG!
Fred Gillotte
11:22 am on Sunday, March 17, 2013
Unfortunately the Lock House and it's surroundings are a perfect place for the resident geese to inhabit. The freshwater pond and dense cover around it provides an ideal spot for the geese to nest and raise their offspring. The expansive green lawn is the favorite food as geese are naturally grass eaters. And lastly, the river directly behind the Lock House is where the geese roost at night. It's going to be tough to relocate the geese. Better give the Geese Police a long term contract!
Susquehanna
1:03 pm on Monday, March 18, 2013
I'm certainly happy to see that the city has found something of real importance to spend money on. Goose droppings may be a eye sore for a few select city folks who seem to forget that birds and other wild animals don't use public restrooms. I have spent more time on the lock house grounds than most and can tell you that I've seen numerous things far worse than waterfowl using this place for a restroom and a home. I've witnessed drug activity, prostitution, trash dumping and lots of homeless activity in this area. Funny how waterfowl dropping are such a serious issue and we forget about the REAL issues.
loal dude
8:44 am on Friday, April 5, 2013
Clearly a violation of the migratory bird treaty act. Dog crap is the bigger problem. If you don't like waterfowl, move to Bel Air.