This season, Broomfielders may see a strange bright orange device roaming the local parks to control the geese population.
The Geese Management Device, a land and water craft about the size of a medium dog, is a remote-controlled vehicle used to deter geese from settling in local parks. Broomfield employees use the craft to move the geese into better locations, like designated open spaces.
“We wanted to come up with a different way to move geese to a more fitting location,” parks employee Jeff Kissinger said. “It’s remote controlled and goes on land and water, and basically does the exact same thing a goose dog would do.”
Kissinger explained that the parks department used to use geese dogs, but that they’ve recently retired. Since the dogs retired, the geese device has taken up the helm.
It works by looking intimidating and scaring the geese into a different location, with its bright orange paint job and threatening grin, Kissinger said. Geese can be a nuisance in public parks, especially because of their feces. Kissinger said that an employee will drive the device around the park to deter the geese.
“We fly the geese from the turf into the pond, and then drive them to a different location,” he said. “The whole program helps alleviate a lot of the damage geese do to our parks system.”
Kissinger said that when the device is being used, employees set up signage to explain to onlookers what’s going on.
“We’ve had this device out this season already, and a lot of people coming up asking questions, and it’s worked out well,” he said.