Homemade Coyote Decoys Keep Geese Off Attleboro Field
ATTLEBORO (CBS) - They cause nothing but problems at playing fields and parks in many cities and towns: geese doing what geese do. One Massachusetts city is trying a homemade twist on coyote decoys, and keeping their fingers crossed.
"I did it to keep the golf course clear of what I didn't want to play golf in, and it seems to work," says Mike Slaney as he looks out over a half dozen "coyotes" he created and that have been installed at Finberg Field in Attleboro. "It looks pretty much like a coyote, I think they do. It could look like a dog. Any animal that's a predator will scare a goose," Slaney says.
Slaney, a talented wood carver and carpenter, made the creatures out of discarded foam rubber. He first used them at a local golf course and says the geese avoided them. So he gave some to the city of Attleboro to replace store bought coyote decoys that didn't keep geese, or their prodigious droppings, away.
Mike says the difference is, his move because they are attached to thin rods. "It gives it a little bit of spring action and weather vane turning. So a slight breeze will cause it to move and a movement is a threat," he says.
During WBZ-TV's visit there were no geese at the park. It's only been two weeks since the critters were set up, but Slaney is optimistic. "If we can keep them off the fields we want clean, that's a bonus," he says.
MORE LOCAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON