What's good for the goose ...

The recent removal of Canada geese from Coosaw Creek's golf course infuriated some residents there, but homeowners in a Mount Pleasant subdivision think they've come up with a more humane way of controlling the birds.

Burt Treger, an eight-year resident of Seaside Farms, said residents there were split last year about what to do with the troublesome geese, which can make a mess of yards and ponds.

"Half wanted them put down, the other half didn't," Treger said. The homeowner's association decided to form a geese committee, and Treger volunteered to be chairman.

"It takes a lot of work and time, but there are alternative ways to control them," he said.

First, the committee came up with a mission statement with the goal of creating a "model program" that manages Canada geese so they're "in balance with our community" and are controlled in a "non-controversial" way that engages the whole subdivision.

Next, the committee decided to ban feeding of the geese, with first offenders receiving a $250 fine and second-timers hit with a $500 penalty.

"The feeding ban is the most important thing to start with. The geese become dependent on feeding and don't want to leave the community," Treger said.

Then came a quasi-military operation to scare the birds away. On weekends in February, about 30 volunteers stationed themselves around the subdivision's 13 lagoons and used air horns and whistles to keep them from landing in the ponds. Treger figures they scared at least 20 geese away doing this.

In April, volunteers also identified nests and coated recently laid eggs with oil, a process called addling that halts the egg's development.

Before these Canada geese efforts, about 60 geese made their homes in Seaside Farms. Now it's down to about 30, Treger said.

In mid-June, a crew with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department rounded up and killed a flock of geese at Coosaw Creek's country club in what some residents described as a "stealth operation." Officials with the country club requested the removal and said it had been planned for months.

Sal Acosta, a Coosaw resident, said the removal stirred feelings of resentment, mistrust and sadness. If the subdivision's board "had asked for community input, we might have been able to come up with a humane solution instead of taking the extreme measure of having their necks broken."

In contrast, Treger said, Seaside's Canada geese strategy has brought "the community closer together instead of dividing it," he said, adding that controlling geese is an on-going commitment, not a one-shot effort. "We'll never get to zero population, but we can try to create a balance."

Reach Tony Bartelme at 937-5554 or tbartelme@postandcourier.com.