Unwanted Visitors On The National Mall
WASHINGTON (WJZ) -- Washington D.C. may be a tourist mecca, but there's one visitor the city would like to see go home.
Alex DeMetrick reports they're fouling things up...literally.
Visitors flock to the Washington Mall and its monuments, including Canada geese. It turns out to be the perfect rest stop for the migration back north.
"We're getting large numbers. They continue to grow, and of course, they cause some problems while they're here," said Mike Litterst, National Park Service.
Mostly in the form of goose poop, it goes through them, well, like a goose. Two to three pounds a day, that ends up underfoot and a lot of other places.
"That creates a nuisance on the walkways. Degrades some of the monuments, memorials; creates problems in the filtration and pump systems of the reflecting pool."
So the park service is thinking of turning to what other cities with too many Canada geese are using--trained Border Collies.
Used for herding, the dogs also do a good job of annoying geese. It's partly because the Border Collies have movements similar to animals that feed on geese in their home up north.
"The Border Collies are one of the few dogs that will drop their shoulders like the Arctic fFox, their number one predator up in Canada," said Tim Eubank.
But unlike the arctic fox, the dogs are trained never to touch, let alone bite the geese.
"We're looking for a non-lethal method to get rid of them, chase them away, if you will," Litterst said.
"It'd be great. If they can control them and help the problem out, let's get them," said Rachel Grygiel, D.C. visitor.
But first the park department must clear bureaucratic hurdles, something that easily outnumbers geese in D.C.
If Border Collies get the OK, it will take the dogs and their handlers multiple patrols to move the geese along.
