After the Dawsonville, Ga., club obtained a permit to euthanize Canada geese that have been eating the turf and leaving droppings on the course, the shootings have been “indefinitely postponed.” Other solutions to the problem are now being researched after some residents opposed the plan, citing the presence of goslings that cannot fly as a complication.
Chestatee Golf Club in Dawsonville, Ga., has decided not to shoot the Canada geese that have been troubling the course, the Dawsonville (Ga.)-based Dawson News reported.
The club had originally obtained a permit to euthanize geese that have been eating the turf and leaving droppings on the course, according to a notice sent to residents. Although golf club employees had no comment, local resident Carroll Polak claimed that shootings have been indefinitely postponed, the News reported.
“We have a beautiful golf course this season, and it looks better than it has in years,” Polak said. “I don’t want the geese to mess it up either, but I don’t want to shoot them.
“Right now, we have been researching other deterrents. The geese won’t leave until the goslings are old enough to fly. So we’re hoping they will be allowed to stay until then.”
C&RB reported on the club’s plan to shoot the nuisance geese last week (“Chestatee GC Gets Permission to Shoot Canada Geese”).
Kimberly Byrd, another local resident, is not so confident, the News reported.
“I think we were just appeased because we got everyone’s attention,” Byrd said. “It’s up to Chestatee at this point.
“Some golf courses use border collies to chase geese away but they’re expensive. A lot of us would be happy to try and come up with the money for an alternative method, but we haven’t been given the chance.”
Although a protected species under state and federal law, permits are available to euthanize problem Canada geese, but nonlethal harassment techniques are encouraged by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ website, the News reported.
In a recent notice to residents, golf course Superintendent Andrew Maronge stated that several geese living on the course have been eating the grass and leaving droppings, which cause dead spots on the turf, the News reported.
“In years past we have worked with authorities and tried various methods of harassment in an attempt to get the geese to leave the area, but all have been unsuccessful. As a last resort, we have obtained a permit from the Department of Natural Resources to euthanize the geese by firearm,” Maronge wrote in the notice.
However, these techniques rarely work when the geese have young and the geese at Chestatee have two goslings, Polak told the News.
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