“Goosinator” Chasing geese and their poop

It may be hard for some to believe that the Canada goose, an iconic symbol of Canada, was once an endangered species.

A successful conservation programme in the 60’s has resulted in the geese becoming a darn nuisance throughout North America, even in places like London.

The problem is not so much the geese per se, but what they leave behind. They eat a lot, and poop…a lot!

In Ottawa,Ontario, they’ve hired border collies  to chase the geese from the Experimental Farm, where the birds ate entire crops, destroying years of research and development. Although its been working, its expensive with a contract at tens of thousands of dollars

Elsewhere in Ottawa they’re trying remote-control “drone” helicopter devices to chase geese and seagulls away from public beaches in a $30-thousand dollar pilot project which seems to be successful.

In Moncton, New Brunswick, where the geese and their droppings have become a problem on the city’s playing fields they’re testing something else.

It’s a remote control “goosinator”, a sort of combination dog-chasing, RC drone.

Running on smooth plastic skids with added wheels, and powered by a model airplane gas engine and propeller, it slides over the grass and around the flock to get them moving and into the air, off the fields and hopefully off to less populated areas.

It can also operate on water, snow and ice.

It’s also rather less expensive at $3,500  Moncton Parks and grounds supervisor Dan Hicks is testing the device on a two week trial basis for durability and effectiveness.

One of the advantages he says, is that it may not cost much to operate.  “This thing is so much fun, I can easily train volunteers and gladly have people come out and try this, especially if you’re a sports enthusiast who is going to use the field”.