When the Lake County Forest Preserve District talks about birdies on its golf courses–it’s not just links lingo.
It’s wildlife–thousands of Canada geese that blithely waddle the courses, indifferent to the curses of golfers for pooping on the greens.
But now the district might have a solution: Get a dog. Rent one or buy one.
The district’s Enterprise Committee this week approved a proposal to explore using a border collie to chase the geese off golf courses.
“The dog doesn’t catch them,” said Daniel Prezell, the district’s director of revenue facilities. “It is a great environmental technique.”
At first, Prezell suggested buying the dog, but committee member Robert Neal (R-Wadsworth) objected.
“How often do you take the dog out to eliminate the geese?” asked Neal. “Rather than buying a dog and worrying about housing and feeding it, I would like to see us rent a dog.”
Prezell said border collies have been used for the last two years to shoo geese at golf courses in Lincolnshire and Glen Ellyn.
“It does work,” he said, pointing out that the dogs are highly intelligent and are known for herding sheep.
The dogs are available, Prezell said, from the Geese-Away Academy in Lithonia, Ga.
The dogs chase the geese off the greens and into waterways, separating the geese from their food supply, worms and insects under the greens. The geese also consider the dogs as predators and fly away.
Steven Messerli, the district’s executive director, said the dog would accompany Tom Morganson, superintendent of golf course maintenance, on his daily rounds in a pickup truck.
Upon seeing a gaggle of geese, said Messerli, Morganson would “let the dog out to do its thing.”
The geese are so smart, said Prezell, that just seeing the pickup truck eventually will cause them to take flight because they know the dog will soon appear.
The district is considering the rent-a-dog tactic at the Countryside, Brae Loch and Ft. Sheridan golf courses.
They’ve already tried highly touted tactics that have failed. These included inflated alligatorsy, fake pink flamingos, a spray that smells like grape bubble gum and swan decoys.
“Swans are supposed to be natural enemies of geese,” said Messerli. “They adjusted and even swim along with live swans. They become buddies.”
