Government

Parks Officials Support Scaring Canada Geese Out of Mead, Disrupting Birds’ Breeding Cycles

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Town officials last week voiced support for using taxpayer money to hire a Wilton-based company to scare Canada geese at Mead Pond and disrupt the birds’ breeding cycles in an effort to make sure their droppings go away from playing fields. The Park & Recreation Commission voted unanimously to recommend accepting about $5,000 from parents of New Canaan High School baseball players and requesting $15,000 in next fiscal year’s budget for the balance of a “geese management” program that would include Mead as well as the Saxe Middle School playing fields. The money would be paid to Chris Santopietro of Geese Relief LLC. The company’s website says ‘Got poop? We can help.’

Geese Relief works with “highly trained working border collies,” Santopietro told Park & Rec commissioners at their Dec.

Animal 411

VIDEO: New Canaan Sees Progress in Canada Geese Egg-Oiling

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New Canaan officials say they’re seeing fewer Canada geese laying eggs here, since putting into practice a Human Society of the United States-approved method of controlling the local population of what some consider nuisance birds. For about three years straight, the New Canaan Police Department’s Animal Control unit has seen seven nests in the area of the Lakeview Cemetery and Transfer Station, and this year it’s down to four. Animal Control Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said the reason is because she and her volunteer helper, Gail Overbeck, have been “oiling” the geese eggs. The method—which requires a permit from New Canaan’s Inland Wetlands Department—involves coating the eggs with oil to seal them off, which means they won’t hatch. The message the mother goose gets is: This isn’t a good place to reproduce, so we’ll go elsewhere next time.