An Oliver resident is fed up with trying to avoid goose poop at Rotary Beach.
Blake Low’s sons and their families were visiting him recently and noticed how much feces littered the park. “The whole grass area is covered with goose crap . . . and the beach. We’re talking health hazard dirty,” Low said.
He complained to Oliver Parks and Recreation, noting he was told that the beach is cleaned up twice a day. But he found that hard to believe.
Low said Rotary Beach is a revenue source as far as tourism is concerned, therefore, it should be maintained as much as the ball diamonds. “They (tourists) will stop coming (if there’s crap all over the place).”
According to Low, a lawnmower with a proper bag attachment would do the job quite efficiently.
Oliver Parks and Recreation manager Carol Sheridan said they are very aware of the increase in goose droppings this year. “Geese have certainly continued to be a challenge in parks across the country,” she pointed out.
In 2012 the Oliver Parks and Recreation Society installed “away with geese” lighting that did significantly reduce the number of geese spending time on the sand and grass at Rotary Park. The lighting works on photocells, so when the sun starts coming up at 4 am the lights stop working and the geese come out again. Although the Town helps fund a valley-wide goose addling program, Sheridan said egg addling did not occur in Rotary park this year. Sheridan noted that goose eggs in the park have hatched successfully. In fact, there are four individual families now, and the number of geese spending time in the park has increased to approximately 30, which creates “pounds and pounds” of goose droppings, Sheridan said.
She acknowledged the complaints about the amount of goose droppings in the park and have responded with additional staff. Sheridan said staff are at Rotary Beach every morning at 7 am raking the beach and shovelling goose droppings from the grass or mowing them up. Staff do another sweep of the park and beach at mid-day, she pointed out.
Due to the number of geese around the lake this year, Parks and Recreation has taken steps to have an individual provide goose patrol services at the park five mornings a week from 4-8 am. “This is a pilot project for the next two weeks and if successful we would continue the service until the end of August.”
Tom Szalay, the Town’s municipal manager, said they issue firearm ban exemptions to six hunters during regular hunting season to shoot geese in town, including Rotary Beach and the airport land, where geese have been a recurring problem.
