A gaggle of over 150 Canadian geese has been leaving its mark all over California’s Lodi Lake Park, which has locals and Lodi City Council members scratching their heads as to how to deal with the hazardous poop problem.
The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 prevents the taking, capturing, selling, or killing of the birds as they are protected under the mandated law. That has left the Lodi City Council with the responsibility of dealing with the geese nuisance.
Lodi City Council members have suggested several ideas in hopes of thwarting the onslaught of goose guano, according to local Fox News affiliate in Sacramento Fox 40. Some ideas which were brought up at a meeting Wednesday night reportedly included the use of lasers and audio-visual distractors, hiring a dog-herding service, and putting up fences.
Local business owners and park-goers alike have complained that the water in the lake, which draws so many to the park, has become so dirty that it poses a health hazard and is preventing park patrons from swimming in it. The infected waters have affected the business of at least one boathouse, whose owner, Dan Arbuckle, has reported “crippling” decreases in revenue, notes Fox 40.
Until the city council comes up with a permanent plan to address Lodi Park’s poop predicament, Headwaters Kayak Shop’s Arbuckle reportedly has a solution of his own. He told Fox 40 that “for now” that plan is “to just keep swabbing the deck.”