{"id":97695,"date":"2025-07-27T21:26:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T21:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/97695\/"},"modified":"2025-07-27T21:26:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T21:26:15","slug":"central-iowa-community-finds-unique-way-to-scare-geese-from-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/97695\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Iowa community finds unique way to scare geese from park"},"content":{"rendered":"

URBANDALE, Iowa (KCCI) – KCCI reports<\/a>, on a summer day in Urbandale\u2019s Lake View Park, about a dozen Canada geese lounge next to the water.<\/p>\n

Years ago, the birds overran the park to the point that it was almost unusable.<\/p>\n

So the city explored options for \u201cgeese mitigation,\u201d which means moving flocks or motivating them to move away, said Scott Hock, the city\u2019s assistant director of parks and recreation.<\/p>\n

The solution: Gertie.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe almost looks like a little fox, a little monster,\u201d Hock said.<\/p>\n

Horticulture technician Allison Bose handles Gertie through remote control, similar to a video game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has all the different joysticks and stuff on it,\u201d Bose said.<\/p>\n

In fact, Bose met Gertie on nearly her first day as a city employee three years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t expecting her to look so predator-like, with all the teeth and the really bright red color,\u201d Bose said. \u201cBut it\u2019s so effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Bose pulls up in her city vehicle, the geese notice fast and hightail it.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, her presence is enough,\u201d Bose said.<\/p>\n

There is a balance to strike when communities and wildlife share space.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe like wildlife, but there\u2019s sometimes where too much of it can be a problem,\u201d Hock said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard on the pond water. It\u2019s hard on the trails and where people walk because they tend to leave a bit of a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Geese droppings can eat up city workers\u2019 hours to clean up trails and add chemicals to the water to deal with the pollution.<\/p>\n

The city said it had not calculated how much money Gertie has helped save taxpayers.<\/p>\n

Historically, Iowa offered ideal homes for geese with wetlands and marshes.<\/p>\n

Open, mowed lawns and open water appeal to urban geese that want to see predators coming, said Andy Kellner, a wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n

Canada geese are a federally protected species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.<\/p>\n

Kellner works with communities to mitigate Canada geese in legal ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe look at why are they here, what is the area, what is the food source, what is the water source, what\u2019s the habitat that\u2019s drawing them to the place,\u201d Kellner said.<\/p>\n

Once those questions get answered, there are a few options: Adding fencing changing the area, hazing (or scaring them or motivating the birds to move), or direct removal. Direct removal requires government permission.<\/p>\n

KCCI Investigates contacted a dozen metro Des Moines communities. Most plant grasses that deter geese from nesting or use some noises when needed.<\/p>\n

\u201cDes Moines Water Works has a great example where they\u2019ve put in a natural prairie buffer,\u201d Kellner said, \u201cand it\u2019s along the water in an area where they don\u2019t want geese crossing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city of Des Moines has used noise and lasers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just \u2018Star Wars.\u2019 Lasers are remarkably effective,\u201d Kellner said.<\/p>\n

Homeowners can also take steps if geese roost on private property, Kellner said. Their choices: making noise, spraying with a hose, playing with a well-trained dog near the birds, drones, remote-controlled boats, lasers, and companies that specialize in geese mitigation.<\/p>\n

Kellner has not seen Gertie in action. He said most cities ban bird feeding, which helps with managing urban geese.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no perfect number for wildlife in an urban area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the million-dollar question to many of any wildlife species,\u201d Kellner said. \u201cIt depends where you are and what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 KCRG. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"URBANDALE, Iowa (KCCI) – KCCI reports, on a summer day in Urbandale\u2019s Lake View Park, about a dozen…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":97696,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[159,67,132,68,837],"class_list":{"0":"post-97695","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-united-states","10":"tag-unitedstates","11":"tag-us","12":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114927316839550463","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97695"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97695\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97696"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}