| According to the FGI, Canada geese can be aggressive toward
humans during nesting season, and each goose leaves behind one to two
pounds of feces each day. The waste damages property and poses a serious
health hazard, robbing people's enjoyment of public parks and corporate
campuses, the company says.
FGI, based in Flanders, was started in 1996. The idea for the company
came about when owner Phil Graziano's son would come home from Newark
Academy football practices covered in goose excrement. The school's maintenance
crew brought in a border collie to help scare the geese away. The academy
hired one of Graziano's former partners to handle the dog to shoo the
geese in exchange for tuition credit, and FGI was soon born. Graziano,
a former manager at Prudential Financial, eventually split with his other
partners when he wanted to grow the company. Today, FGI employs 11 people
in New Jersey. It also operates in Colorado, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts,
New York and Pennsylvania through joint ventures. Local firms hire the
workforce and sales team. FGI handles administrative matters. Federal
and state laws prohibit the killing or injuring of the geese, and artificial
repellents, such as floating alligator heads and fences, are not a long-term
solution, Graziano said. The birds are too bold and intelligent to consistently
fall for them, he said. The best method, according to FGI, is to constantly
surprise the birds with border collies. These are the best dogs for the
job, Grazino said. They have similar features to the arctic fox, a common
predator of Canada geese.
Border collies usually run between $3,500 and $6,000 apiece. As a way
to cut costs, FGI bought ElBaff Farm and Kennel, a border collie breeder
in Delmar, Md., a couple of years ago. Through that acquisition, the company
now breeds and trains some 70 dogs at that facility. At "Goose U.," the
dogs undergo a foundation in herding, obedience training and livestock
work before training with African gray geese. They learn standard herding
techniques such as flanking and moving in the direction commanded by the
handlers. The goal, however, is not to round up the geese but to scare
them off. Refresher training is provided at least once a year.
This marks the third year FGI has worked in Verona Park. Under the $45,000
county contract, which lasts through next April, at least one FGI handler
shows up in each park three times a day, seven days a week. "The times
have to be random," Graziano said. "These geese are intelligent. We can't
keep a time schedule because they'll know when we're coming." The geese
eventually even recognize the firm's vehicles. "I show up with the windows
up, and they still know its us," said Tom DeLalla, FGI field operations
director. When DeLalla and Patches arrived in Verona Park last Friday
morning, there were only a couple geese in the lake, - in an ill-advised
practice, being fed by park visitors - and a few birds gathered on the
dirt on the west side of the park. The few numbers indicate the system
is working, DeLalla said. During a two-month lapse in the contract, the
goose population built up again, Graziano said.
Patches ran down to the shore, forcing two geese in the lake near the
waterline squawking further out into the water. Even when chased on land,
the birds naturally gravitate toward the water. That's when FGI sends
in its second secret weapon, Goose Chaser II, a custom-built, remote-controlled
boat. DeLalla said the boat, operating on a weed-eater motor, is environmentally
sound and doesn't leak gas, even if the boat capsizes. The boat barrels
noisily over the surface straight for the geese, with its tennis ball
"eyes" staring them down. As the boat circles the birds, they fly off,
one to the north and one to the south. DeLalla continues to stalk the
winged ones, steering the boat to either side of the lake after them.
If possible, he likes to trap the geese between the boat and the dog on
the shore, scaring them. After breaking up that party, DeLalla drives
down the fitness path, adjacent to the other geese gathered on the other
side of the lake. They stand on the dug-up ground left from the recent
dredging project at the lake because they know the dog cannot easily access
them there, he said. However, the birds spot Patches sticking her head
out the car window and fly away. Who knows where they flew to - perhaps
the Montclair Golf Club on the adjacent property, but that's not FGI's
assignment. Their job is to scare the birds and keep them away from Verona
Park, for good. |
