NEWS

Geese begone: birds could pose issues to WCC

Geese flock to WCC campus for the safety it provides and to eat the grass. However, the birds can cause health concerns for humans. Torrence Williams | Washtenaw Voice

By Brian Babcock
Staff Writer

Canada Geese have made a happy home on WCC’s well-manicured lawns—providing unique wildlife sightings for some and burdensome work for others.

Around this time each year, Canada Geese move to someplace where they can find food, water and safety. Most corn and wheat fields have been cleaned out by geese, deer, and other wildlife which leaves one last food source—grass. Whether it be golf course grass or community college grass, the geese go wherever provides the safest environment. And with so many people present on campus, the geese’s natural predators stay away.

Because of these factors, geese flock to campus, said Holly Herman, landscape and grounds maintenance manager at the college.

“For us it creates some issues,” said Herman. “Unfortunately, they tend to gravitate toward the rich, manicured grass areas. So, on campus, that means it’s the spaces that people tend to do leisure activities . . . and with their excrement . . . you don’t want to come in contact with that,” Herman said.

It poses an issue when the geese defecate on the sidewalks around campus. This raises many health concerns, according to Herman.

“It’s not unusual to have a hundred or more geese on campus at any given time. So you can imagine all of the excrement on the sidewalks . . . which then gets tracked into the buildings,” said Herman. “We have to sweep it regularly off the sidewalks.”

Goose feces contain the parasites cryptosporidium, giardia, coliform and campylobacter, as well e-coli bacteria—all of which are serious health hazards to people.

Chris Compton runs a local goose removal company out of Southeastern Michigan called Goose Busters. To many, a large flock of suburban geese might not look like much, but to Compton, he sees it as a business opportunity.

“Geese can be territorial and attack people, especially in the spring when they have nests,” said Compton.

Compton said that pets will consume the feces which in turn causes more problems. The bottomline for the college and Compton’s business is to keep the material out of the buildings and out of people’s cars on campus.

So how is the problem dealt with? Starting March 1, the Goose Busters team and their Border Collie dogs helped scare off the majority of the geese on campus.

“We’re coming out twice a day from March first through the end of November with Border Collie dog patrols. They keep the geese off of the property,” said Compton. “So you might notice that from December 1 through February 28 there are more geese out there because we aren’t out there chasing them away.”

Despite the negative impacts the geese have, it’s important to recognize that they still fulfill a specific niche in the environment, said WCC science instructor David Wooten.

“The other concern here of course is for the safety of the goose itself. This is a wild animal that has a right to be here. We have the habitat, and we like to see the wildlife around. I’ve seen the geese nesting on the grass islands between the cars in the parking lot,” said Wooten. “We’ve had geese up-close because there is limited habitat and competition between geese for good nesting sites. Now you have a problem with people hitting the geese; goslings getting hit by cars.”

As a wildlife biologist, Wooten understands the importance of maintaining a balanced system between humans and wildlife. To him, it’s all about finding the appropriate parity between humans and nature.

“It’s easy to talk about the disadvantages [of having too many geese on campus], but the reality is that this is a natural species that we have habitat here for,” said Wooten. “We pride ourselves at Washtenaw for having this natural area that surrounds our campus. We have the WCC Nature Trail; we have bioswales and other natural areas. If we pride ourselves in this we have to find some equilibrium with the natural world . . . so that students can come onto campus, park their cars and walk into class without being attacked by wildlife, but at the same time appreciate that these animals are going to be around and that they need some room.”