advertisement

Scout's grapefruit juice spray is solution to geese in park

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - Elkhart is trying to combat a bird problem and one local Boy Scout may have found a solution.

Anybody who has spent any amount of time at local parks has no doubt run into a Canada goose, or perhaps several dozen geese. They nest, beg for food, leave droppings all over and are a constant presence during the summer months.

Mishawaka recently dealt with their geese problem by exterminating 400 animals, an act that infuriated local residents.

Clyde Riley, Elkhart Parks and Recreation Department superintendent, said the city was looking for a more humane way of dealing with the problem.

Cue local Boy Scout Makeyta Trzaska, a member of Troop 4 in Wakarusa who is trying to become an Eagle Scout, the highest ranking that can be achieved as a Boy Scout. He began working with Riley during the spring, both eyeing a creative solution that would get rid of the geese in a few of the local parks.

"They leave feces all over some parks and it just doesn't look good and isn't sanitary," Riley said. "We have had no reports of anyone being injured by the geese, but we have had some reports of them being aggressive. With small children trying to enjoy the parks, that is cause for concern on our part."

Trzaska spent four days studying the bird populations at local parks, including McNaughton Park, Island Park and Central Park, trying to get an accurate picture of where the birds went, how many there were and what different types of animals gravitate to the parks.

"We needed to find a solution that wouldn't impact the other animals that called the parks home," Trzaska said.

In the end, Riley and Trzaska experimented with a fruit-based spray that can be applied to grass. When the geese eat the grass they get a bitter taste in their mouths and then move to other areas. The spray, 95 percent grapefruit juice, can last up to two weeks and by the end of that period the geese generally are conditioned to not return to the park.

"We are just attempting to control the amount of geese that are at our parks. We want to preserve the space so that people can utilize it," Riley said.

On Tuesday morning, Trzaska helped parks department personnel spray Central Park with the grapefruit solution by skipping classes at Goshen High School for the day.

"I think this was a great opportunity for him to earn his Eagle badge and for the Parks Department to demonstrate what can be accomplished if you work smarter, not harder," Riley said.

Testing the solution will cost the city around $500. That's a deal compared to other solutions, such as hiring someone to remove the geese, said Mike Lightner, head of the Public Buildings and Grounds Department.

Island Park, just northeast of downtown, received the first distribution of the grapefruit spray. On Tuesday, a walk through the park yielded no sightings of any geese.

Some were hanging out on the former Elkhart YMCA property, across the Elkhart River from the island, but most avoided the grassy areas of Island Park.

"Last Sunday I walked through here and I was thinking, 'Where are all the geese?'" said Tommie Freeman of Elkhart. "I haven't noticed as many. It is almost as though they all cleared out."

Freeman said she never had any issues with the geese being aggressive, but that the feces was something that bothered her.

L.C. Kitts of Elkhart said the number of geese has gotten out of hand and he doesn't know how the city is going to control the problem moving forward.

"Seems to be less hanging around the park now," he said. "They do hang out in flocks, so at times you might not see any, but then you come upon a big group."

Riley said the Parks Department plans to spray McNaughton Park soon. He hopes the end result of the program is something that allows the geese and residents to coexist while enjoying the parks.

"Hopefully other cities see what we did here and will adopt practices that are alternatives to killing the geese," he said.

___

Source: The Elkhart Truth, http://bit.ly/2bkaEOQ

___

Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.