Kids or ducks? Lake Orion Village Council members picked kids at their March 14 meeting.
They’ve decided to apply for a goose round-up permit for use at Green’s Park on M-24. The permit would only apply for 2005.
It’s estimated that between 40 to 50 birds hang out at the park during the summer months when area children gather to swim or attend swimming lessons.
There’s been speculation that an ecoli problem that sometimes shows up at the beach could be caused by geese.
The permit for a goose round-up would also include nest destruction.
According to village parks and recreation advisory member Kevin Leggert, nest destruction means shaking the eggs in the nest.
Council members agreed that the geese droppings at the park are terrible and something has to be done.
In the past, the village has put string up along the water line and sprayed the grass with a mixture that supposedly the geese don’t like, but nothing has worked.
‘They (the geese) do come back. I know it’s a problem, but it (the round-up) seems to be too extreme. I’d rather have dogs over there,? councilman Tom Albert said.
Councilman Bob Hollenbeck said he had heard of one community that used a silhouette of a dog and that had worked.
‘Let’s make sure they (the geese) aren’t destroyed,? Albert added.
Leggert said he’d been told the geese would be relocated.
Resident Sue Albert said she had found information online that planting tall grass would be a deterrent for geese.
If the village’s application for a round-up is OK’d, it will take place June 1.