June 2
...serving up your daily dish.
Our Edgemont Park Goose Beat correspondent Scot Surbeck has captured the newest wrinkle on the war against fowl: a fake wolf in the middle of the island. The wolf has scared all the geese off the island -- out to the perimeter of the park -- except for one brave mom-to-be, the same one Scot saw on Memorial Day guarding her nest.
That said, are we going to need fake wolves standing guard all over the park?
June 2, 2005 in Seen around town | Permalink
I dunno. That goose looks fake too. Are you sure Scot isn't staging these photos with animal cutouts?
Posted by: Chris | Jun 2, 2005 11:51:46 AM
They should put the new logo on a sign on the island. Canada geese are sticklers for kearning.
How much did this "consultant" cost? I'd bet a lot more than a º22 and 4 boxes of ammo.
Posted by: Right of Center | Jun 2, 2005 11:53:06 AM
There is something noble about that mother starring down the lone wolf. I'd bet she'd peck at your mightly if you tried to addle her eggs!
Posted by: Right of Center | Jun 2, 2005 12:00:17 PM
I see the problem! See the wolf? See the goose? Where is the wolf looking? The wolf is facing the wrong way! It's a left facing wolf (suitable for Montclair).
Cary
Posted by: carya | Jun 2, 2005 12:31:28 PM
Jeez, ROC, unless you are trying to just wound the critters, you might want to consider a 12-gauge shotgun.
Canada Geese weren't a problem until we made them one. Not that many years ago they would migrate south in the winter for more abundant food, then back north to the wetlands of Canada to breed.
Then people here started feeding them and people in Canada started drying up the wetlands for development. So the geese, being the clever birds they are, decided that commuting wasn't worth the effort and became year-round residents. (The rich ones have joined private country clubs and the poor ones hang out in the parks with the rest of us hoi polloi.)
Short of eradicating them, we will never get them to leave; all we can do is move the problem from one feeding/nesting spot to another.
And you are right - they can be nasty little critters when riled. Geese are still used in many parts of Europe as watch animals - they can give you a pretty good gash if you get close enough.
Posted by: conan the grammarian | Jun 2, 2005 12:35:58 PM
Years ago (15 or so) I took my sister and her friend (both about 3 or 4) to Brookdale park to feed the ducks. The ducks/geese got very aggressive, very fast, and were a little taller then the kids. It ended up with us throwing the bread as far as we could in an attempt to get the birds to back off, then me grabbing a child under each arm and running for the car as fast as we could.
Needless to say we never did that again.
Posted by: hrhppg | Jun 2, 2005 12:53:32 PM
That's a funny story, hrbppg (is that a moniker or are you just clearing your throat?). These birds sound downright urban.
Posted by: walleroo | Jun 2, 2005 1:05:56 PM
It's the initials of my nickname. I thought about getting it as a vanity plate but I clash with a few of my neighbors on nj.com so I decided to stay anonymous.
Posted by: hrhppg | Jun 2, 2005 1:12:45 PM
No wolves or geese in our neighborhood, but my neighbors spotted a fox in Bloomfield Cemetery last week.
Posted by: State Street Pete | Jun 2, 2005 1:20:04 PM
The initials of your nickname? Gosh, that's one heck of a nickname. Don't tell me, let me guess. Is it His Royal Highness Peter Peter Goulash-eater?
Posted by: walleroo | Jun 2, 2005 1:26:15 PM
lol...Her Royal Highness...but no I don't eat Goulash.
So wait, a fox in Bloomfield Cemetery? That's a little scary. Is he our town employee to keep geese away? Or was it the ghost of a fox from some Victorian fox hunting club from back in time. Maybe that's how we spark visitor interest in Bloomfield center - we tout it as the supernatural town center. Then the empty stores we have now would match the theme.
BTW Pete, some of the nicest people I've met in Bloomfield live on State Street.
Posted by: hrhppg | Jun 2, 2005 1:36:48 PM
Thank you so much for this story! I almost had an accident yesterday trying to see if the thing was real or not (blushes to admit how easily fooled I am).
Posted by: fyi | Jun 2, 2005 2:05:44 PM
hrh - glad to hear it - me too ;)
I didn't see the fox myself so I can't confirm if the fox is on the dole or an independent contractor.
I wouldn't be too concerned though. There are enough tasty tidbits scurrying about inside that cemetery to keep a fox happy. If that space could sustain the deer that showed up a few years back I'm sure it will make a nice home for a fox. Unlike the deer, hopefully the fox will stay out of traffic.
Posted by: State Street Pete | Jun 2, 2005 2:22:53 PM
As you can see from the following article those canadian geeese have good taste in neighborhoods --
http://1010wins.com/topstories/local_story_153074404.html
1010 WINS - New York's All News Station | 1010wins.com
Greenwich Using Scare Tactics Against Geese
Jun 2, 2005 7:42 am US/Eastern
GREENWICH, Conn. Hundreds of Canada geese leaving droppings all over town parks will now be managed through scare tactics and education.
Town officials have backed off a plan to kill up to 200 of the big birds and instead are adopting nonlethal methods.
Under a two-year pilot program that begins immediately, the town will discourage the migratory birds from sticking around by scaring them with dogs, disrupting nests and teaching resident not to feed the fowl.
``Even if we were to round up geese and kill them or transport them someplace else, other geese are going to come in unless we have a solution that makes the areas less attractive to them,'' First Selectman Jim Lash said Wednesday. ``This is a program that has worked in other places.''
The new plan was designed by GeesePeace, a nonprofit group based in Falls Church, Va., which says cooperation by residents is vital to the plan's success.
``Canada geese sometimes nest in areas that aren't on (town) property, and you've got to encourage the neighborhood groups and property owners to participate in the program,'' GeesePeace President David Feld said.
This year's goslings have already hatched, but next March the town will begin covering the newly laid eggs with corn oil. The method, approved by the Human Society of the United States, seals the egg's pores and prevents growth.
``Personally I'm just really happy to stop all this talk of killing,'' resident Bonnie Riski said. ``It seemed like Greenwich was going in a direction to kill anything that moved.''
© MMV Infinity Broadcasting Corp.
Posted by: arnie | Jun 2, 2005 3:05:11 PM
We have seen two foxes running around in the Bloomfield cemetery, though not lately (it's easier to spot them when there's snow on the ground). I am happy to report that the family of groundhogs that used to live under my neighbor's garage is no more. And that the squirrel population is considerably reduced, though whether that's due to the poor acorn crop or to our friends the foxes, I dunno.
Posted by: greenb | Jun 2, 2005 3:50:56 PM
Do foxes feed on goose eggs or on Canada geese? I say we import them to Edgemont!
Posted by: TwinDad | Jun 2, 2005 4:21:03 PM
They seem to go after the smaller critters -- they don't eat cats, or at least they don't eat our cat, who is a bit on the tubby side. A Canadian goose may be more than they can bite off, much less chew.
Posted by: greenb | Jun 2, 2005 4:31:17 PM
Foxes are actually pretty common all across New Jersey. The brochure you get at Island Beach State Park includes a few paragraphs about the fox colony there, and I've truly never not seen a fox or two (once with kits) the last 5-6 times I've been there. They often stand in the middle of that two-lane road down the spine of the park. I've also seen them in Clifton, Millburn and South Orange. We have both the reds and the greys here, by the way. (No blue foxes, thank goodness.)
Never, however, heard of a wolf (or even a coyote or a coy-dog for that matter) eating geese. It's sheep they usually get blamed for (often unfairly) eating.
"Her royal highness of Pittsburgh Plate Glass?" Perhaps you own or work at an auto glass place?
Posted by: cathar | Jun 2, 2005 8:45:14 PM
The fake wolf is working. It's chasing the geese out of Edgemont Park --- right into the middle of Valley Road. They had traffic at a standstill this very morning.
Posted by: alice | Jun 3, 2005 9:45:50 AM
On an evening stroll in London I once heard a horrible sound that I took for a woman in distress. I was very upset, until an elder couple explained that it was the sound of mating foxes. Apparently foxes are as common in London as raccoons are here.
Posted by: walleroo | Jun 3, 2005 11:04:13 AM
Tell me, Didn't we pay some "consultants" $8,000 to get rid of the geese? Is this right up there with paying the gazebo designer $24,000 to not do a gazebo, $10,000 to the logo designer to not do a logo, and now $8,000 to the goose removers to not remove the geese?
Where do I sign up? I'm sure there's something I can't do that's worth at least $20,000!
Cary
Posted by: carya | Jun 4, 2005 12:56:55 PM
cathar, interesting, I had no idea they were any around here at all. I've never seen one in the area, or even in Essex County for that matter
Posted by: State Street Pete | Jun 22, 2005 2:07:32 PM
