The city council approved a permit for a small group of hunters to kill 10 geese on the Covington, Ga., golf course. The co-owner of the property said the geese have been a problem for 15 years, and the staff has brought in dogs and cranes to chase them away, sprayed chemicals, put cayenne pepper on the nests and fishing line in the lake, but none of the methods have been effective.

A small group of hunters will be removing geese from Ashton Hills Golf Course in Covington, Ga., soon, after the city council approved the use of a permit on March 21 to shoot the animals, the Covington (Ga.) News reported.

Brian Raines, a co-owner of Ashton Hills, requested permission for the use of firearms in the city in order to rid the course of about a dozen geese. The geese, Raines said, have been a problem for the course for about 15 years. The geese dig 12-inch holes in the greens searching for food, make a mess on the course and have been known to attack golfers, the News reported.

“It costs a lot of money to go in three, four or five times a month and fix all the areas they disturb,” Raines said. “Another issue is feces, and they’re also very aggressive. They’ll go after you and they’ll bite you.”

Raines told the council that Ashton Hill’s staff has tried every method it could think of to get rid of about a dozen geese that have become residents of the course and its lakes. Dogs have been brought onto the course, chemicals have been sprayed, cayenne pepper has been put on nesting sites, fishing line was put in the lake to try and keep the geese out and even cranes were brought in to try and chase off the geese, the News reported.

None of those efforts, which had been brought to the attention of the department of natural resources, have worked. “We’ve worked hard the last few years to eliminate the growth in population,” Raines said. “We have gone through the steps, and the DNR says this is the next step in the phase.”

According to Covington City Manager Leigh Anne Knight the city’s pest eradication permit does not cover geese, requiring Raines to come to the city for approval of the permit granted by the DNR to take care of the nuisance of the geese. City ordinances also do not permit the firing of weapons in city limits. More than 78% of Ashton Hill’s golf course is in the city of Covington, the News reported.

Raines has contacted both the Newton County Sheriff’s Office and the Covington Police Department after receiving permission from the DNR to shoot the geese. The Sheriff’s Office said they will have a deputy on hand during the removal of the geese, and that the Ashton Hills staff alert 911 dispatch ahead of time. The Covington Police Department will have officers on hand to make sure the shooting is done safely, the News reported.

“We didn’t want a bunch of gunfire going off in county and we wanted people to know what’s going on,” Raines said.

The DNR’s permit for shooting the geese runs from March 11 through August 31 and is for the shooting of 10 geese. Raines said neighbors around Ashton Hills lakes will be notified but the date of the shooting will not be made public, the News reported.

The DNR permit calls for .410-gauge shotgun shells loaded with No. 6 pellets, and that the be fired by licensed hunters with a bird stamp, the News reported.