Geese to get the boot at Geneva's Island Park

Geese at Island Park in Geneva will get an eviction notice this year.

The Geneva park board Monday hired Wild Goose Chase of La Grange for $7,875 to harass the waterfowl enough to convince them that hanging out in the riverside park is not a good idea.

In the spring, Wild Goose workers will make sure not as many goslings are born by searching for geese eggs and dipping the eggs in corn oil. The oil prevents air from entering the shell, so the embryo stops developing. Leaving the eggs in the nest fools the parent geese into thinking they are still incubating a hatch, as opposed to nest removal (after which the geese may simply build another nest and lay another hatch.)

Then, beginning around mid-August, handlers will bring border collies to the park to chase the geese. The dogs will visit one to two times a day, at different times, so the geese don't adapt to the schedule.

If it works at Island Park this year, the district may hire the firm to do the same next year at Peck Farm Park on the west side of town.

"Island Park is the worst at this point," said Steve Persinger, executive director of the park district.

Larry Gabriel, parks and facilities superintendent, said that the geese tromp through and eat the plants in the flower beds at the park. Geese feces end up all over the park, especially when it floods after a rain. At Peck Farm Park, the geese tear up the soccer fields, he said.

Border collies are used to rout geese because they have a natural instinct to herd wildlife as opposed to trying to catch, kill and retrieve them; they're intelligent dogs that respond well to training; and they have "an insatiable need to work," according to the firm's Web site, www.wildgoosechasers.com.

"None of our dogs have harmed a goose," said Wild Goose field operations/account manager Bryan Gibbons. Harming Canada geese is forbidden by the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918.

Since Island Park is located on the Fox River, and the geese, of course, like the water, the firm will also use remote-control boats to discourage the geese from landing on the river.

Persinger, park district executive director, said some residents have offered to come to the park and let their dogs chase geese. The district prefers to have somebody who has the appropriate federal permit for egg-oiling (technically, it's called "addling the eggs") and liability insurance.

You'll know it's Wild Goose working, and not just your neighbor, because the dogs are outfitted in reflective orange vests, and the humans wear a company uniform.

The U.S. Humane Society supports egg-addling, as long as it is done before the eggs are 14 days old. After that, it considers the practice inhumane. Floating the eggs in water is one method used to determine the age of the egg.