Village Steps Into Goose Feces Fracas

Battle lines are being drawn over how to control Montgomery Village’s Canada geese—or rather, the droppings that the hundreds of birds leave behind.

Complaints have piled up this summer from youth sports teams that use the ballfields in South Valley Park, prompting the Montgomery Village Foundation to take a two-pronged approach, approved Thursday night:

• Spray South Valley’s fields with a grape-based goose repellant
• Research the effectiveness and possible health risks low-intensity strobe lights that could be installed in ponds and lakes

South Valley Park will be sprayed with the repellant Migrate once Hurricane Irene passes. Migrate contains methyl anthranilate, which is found in grapes and other fruits and flowers.

It is expected to cost around $400 to apply in South Valley Park and would last about three months. The spray poses no risks to pets and humans, according to Migrate’s producer, Illinois-based Nixalite of America, Inc.

"Basically, it’s grape juice," said Bob Hydorn, president of the MVF board.

In the meantime, the Village’s Committee on the Environment will take a detailed look at health and safety issues install strobe lights in South Valley.

The lights are designed to disrupt the geese’s sleeping patterns, eventually compelling them to move elsewhere. Executive Vice President David Humpton proposed the strobe lights last month as a pilot program to see if it can work in the Village's other goose-heavy locales. The Columbia Association—which plays the same role over the Howard County planned community as the Montgomery Village Foundation does here—recently began using the lights to great effect, Humpton said.

The sudden push to expel the Village’s geese has ruffled feathers of environmentalists and nature lovers.

Jane Wilder, a member of the environmental committee, reminded the board that man and goose have coexisted for decades—and should be able to with less drastic measures.

The plans seem like a “solution in search of a problem,” she said, especially since tallied only 468 birds, the fewest in a decade.

Among Wilder's concerns: possible harm to humans. Anti-goose strobe lights, she said, have triggered epileptic seizures and migraines in other communities. She also worries about the impact on other Village wildlife.

"We won’t have any ducks, we won’t have anything around because they bother the animals. They don’t just target geese; they target songbirds or anything that would be in their area," Wilder said. "Meanwhile, the park is very beautiful and peaceful at night. The idea of looking at a Coney Island kind of thing with revolving lights all over is unpalatable to people that bought their property for the nature and serenity, etc. To look out and expect to see beautiful tranquility and see flashing lights is just not acceptable."

In light of the strobes’ possible threat to human health, the board called on the Committee on the Environment to research the issue thoroughly and make a recommendation.

The committee next meets on Sept. 14.