City Council Looks To Rid Boston Parks Of Goose Poop
BOSTON (CBS) – For soccer players in Brighton, goose poop is nothing new.
"There's a lot of poop," one player said. "There's always goose poop around."
With so many "land mines," players have to watch their step out on the field.
"You have to wash your cleats when you get home and your mom, she's not too happy," another player joked.
But mothers aren't the only ones grumbling.
Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George, a mother of four boys, told WBZ-TV that if the city wants to save the newly restored parks, it's time to get serious about ridding them of geese.
"It becomes a public health issue," she said.
It's not uncommon for geese, which can excrete up to three pounds of feces a day, to hiss at park guests, and even try to bite them.
"There's not much you can do. They're not really doing anything about you. You have to play through it," one player said.
The birds are Canada geese, but most of them are not migratory.
That means they hang around the area all year – reproducing, eating and pooping on ball fields and jogging paths citywide.
"It's something that affects us in all our neighborhoods. It effects the youth, affects seniors, affects every person that wants to enjoy our park. I want to make sure that they can," Essaibi-George said.
Border collies, pyrotechnics, and "addling," which means deactivating the goose eggs, have all been used elsewhere.
On Wednesday, Essaibi-George will ask her fellow city councilors to summon experts on the subject to vet a solution and cost.
"We need to make sure we remain focused on some of our greatest jewels in the City of Boston, and that's our parks," she said.
The soccer players in Brighton would be extremely grateful.
"We've got to fight through the poo," one joked.
