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
Trudeau acknowledges charges in Nijjar killing, calls for commitment to democracy
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has acknowledged the charges laid Friday in relation to the murder of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Bodies recovered in Mexico likely 2 Australians, 1 American who went missing: officials
Three bodies recovered in an area of Baja California are likely to be those of the two Australians and an American who went missing last weekend during a camping and surfing trip, the state prosecutor’s office said Saturday.
Princess Anne lays wreath at B.C. veteran's cemetery; receives 21-gun salute
Princess Anne paid tribute to veterans buried at a cemetery in British Columbia today, laying a wreath to honour the more than 2,500 military personnel and family members buried there.
Mystik Dan wins the 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in a three-horse photo finish
Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a photo finish, edging out Forever Young and Sierra Leone for the upset victory.
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
London Drugs begins 'gradual reopening' on 7th day after cyberattack
Almost a week after all London Drugs stores across Western Canada abruptly closed amid a cyberattack, they began a "gradual reopening" on Saturday.