Less Geese Seen at Deerhead Lake as Management Plan is Under Way

Less geese may be visible at Lacey’s lakes as the birds have began their nesting season but the township has been implementing beginning steps to its new management plan to control the population.

The grass at Deerhead Lake has been replaced with rocks to cut off the geese’ food chain and egg addling is under way, Committeeman David Most said.

“(The United States Department of Agriculture) found quite a few nests, and they’ll be back in three weeks,” he said. “They’ve been getting positive results.”

The USDA has come out three times and so far, and nine nests and six eggs have been treated, he said.

“That’s moving along, and I think it’s being productive,” Most said.

Longtime advocate for Lacey’s lakes Otto Zehl believes that the methods used so far is a “good start” and less geese are present at Deerhead Lake, he said.

“I think we’re doing a beautiful job in trying to solve this goose problem now,” he said. “What they’ve done with gravel is both aesthetically very nice and I can see that the geese will not be able to eat those stones. I just wish to thank the township for taking an effort.”

The township will also be incorporating education through increased signage noting that feeding the geese is illegal and harassment through Geesebusters.

Geesebusters will utilize an eagle kite during the course of six days, Recreation Director James Wioland previously explained. As the kite flies, the company will blow a whistle. At the end of the six days, only the whistle is needed as the geese have been conditioned to believe there is danger.

“This isn’t a 100 percent elimination of geese but I think we’re going to be restoring the balance of nature and be where we want to be with keeping our beaches clean with this method,” Wioland said.

The service is $2,454 for the six-day cleanout, which would be done in late May and $395 a day for a service call, if the township chooses to use in future months, he said.

The eagle kite has a money back guarantee and if the service is successful, the township can purchase the product for $4,000 and have staff trained by Geesebusters to use it, he said.

“This really brings us back to making sure we have a multi-technique approach,” Wioland said. “If we did just one piece of this, I don’t believe it would be a long-term, effective plan.”