NEWBURY – The current battle for control of the Upper Green on High Road has nothing to do with Colonial-era militia or General Benedict Arnold’s stopover on route to his disastrous raid on Quebec.
The town’s Highway Department is battling hordes of Canadian geese, which have made the Upper Green their home. To discourage the geese, the highway department has installed five fake coyotes and two swans, which “have worked in the past,” a Highway Department spokesman said.
But not this year. In fact, last week the geese, who number in the dozens, took offense at the fake coyotes and knocked one on its side. Maybe the geese wanted to see if the coyote would bark or howl when sent sprawling. But mostly the geese prefer to strut passed the coyotes.
The two swans, floating in the pond, are also not discouraging the geese. One morning last week, they were all floating together. In years past, holes have been poked in the deployed swan, which sank them, according to the highway department.
Dog or wolf decoys have proven to be more effective in some areas, with motion detectors that set off a “bark” or a “howl” if the geese come within range. Experts say that any decoy needs to look and behave realistically or it doesn’t have a chance of being effective. Setting a single plastic swan afloat in a pond just isn’t going to do it.
The town is now looking for a herding dog to frighten the geese from the Upper Green. In the interim, highway crews are dispatched frequently to clean the geese poop off the popular green. ♦
