Strange beasts stalking Silver Lake in Waterloo
Don’t be alarmed if you see some strange new creatures in Waterloo Park. They’re plastic, totally harmless and the wild-eyed beasts are there to scare geese, not you.
The City of Waterloo stationed about eight decoy coyotes around the park earlier this month to test if they’ll keep geese – and the mess they create – away from popular spots.
City staff say they received a number of complaints about the birds last season.
People in the park on Thursday had also noticed the issue.
“[You] just have to avoid the goose droppings when you’re going for a walk,” one parkgoer told CTV News.
“Obviously a lot of geese poop,” said another person passing through.
The decoys aren’t meant to make the geese go away entirely, but mostly to keep them off the main paths.
“We have a plan to put a broader goose management program together, but in the meantime we wanted to think of a way to help deter geese,” Tom Margetts, manager of park operations for the City of Waterloo, explained. “So as an experiment, we purchased some coyote decoys in a few different stances, a few different models, and we’ve placed them around the lake.”
A coyote decoy, aimed at scaring away geese, is seen in Waterloo Park on April 18, 2024. (Chris Thomson/CTV Kitchener)
Coyotes are natural predators of Canada geese, Margetts said. The decoys’ tails also move in the wind, which could act as an additional deterrent.
City staff plan to periodically rotate them around the park over the course of the spring.
“We’ll try them in the next few months, we’ll probably move them away in the summer and maybe look at bringing them back in the fall,” he said.
Integrative biology professor at the University of Guelph, Shoshanah Jacobs, likes the idea but says the geese could catch on soon because the visual cue isn’t paired with a chemical one, such as scent.
“Unless they are in combination and actively enforced with some kind of negative consequence, these cues tend to become less and less important to wildlife,” said Jacobs.
A chemical deterrent of sorts would likely keep humans out as well, Jacobs adds.
But the city will explore a combination of options as it hopes to make a walk in the park – exactly that.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Security guard shot, seriously injured outside of Drake's Toronto mansion
A security guard working at Drake’s Bridle Path mansion in Toronto was seriously injured in a shooting outside the residence early Tuesday morning, police said.
King Charles too busy to see son Prince Harry during U.K. trip
Prince Harry will not be seeing his father King Charles during his current visit to Britain as the monarch will be too busy, Harry's spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Your body needs these three forms of movement every week
Movement is movement, right? Not exactly. Here’s what your body is looking for in addition to your morning walk or yoga session, according to experts.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
Quebec to limit sperm donations per donor after 3 men from same family father hundreds of children
Quebec is looking at tightening the regulations around sperm donation in the province following the release of a documentary that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
How to overcome 'savings guilt' when you're living paycheque to paycheque
As the higher cost of living continues to squeeze household budgets, many Canadians find they have even less left over at the end of every month to squirrel away for the future.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.