Golf Courses Using Swans To Scare Off Geese; Bad Idea, Expert Says
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A South Jersey golf course is using a live-in goose deterrent -- a pair of very territorial swans. A wildlife expert says it's an interesting, but ultimately bad, idea.
On golf courses and corporate campuses, Canada Geese are as numerous as pigeons -- only bigger, with much more slippery byproducts. Finding a way to keep them at bay is on par with finding a cure for the common cold. Nature writer Scott Weidensaul doesn't think much of the cure du jour: swans.
"It's a bad idea for a couple of reasons," Weidensaul says. "One is that Mute Swans are an invasive species that don't belong in North America, and no matter how beautiful they are, they're damaging to the environment here, and they're damaging to aquatic ecosystems."
Plus, Weidensaul says, it can backfire, "Just today, I saw Mute Swans that were added to a local pond here in eastern Pennsylvania for the express purpose of chasing away Canada Geese, and they were swimming in a big happy flock -- with the Canada Geese."
So for now, watch where you step.
Reported by Molly Daly, KYW Newsradio 1060
