A flock of Canada geese, soaring in a V formation high above, can be a majestic sight.

On the ground, the same geese waddling and honking as they deposit their feces on

golf courses, picnic areas and the lawns of homes are not nearly so majestic.

Geese are beautiful, interesting birds, but they cause a lot of problems,&#8221 said

Bryan L. Swift, a waterfowl specialist who is the state Department of Environmental

Conservation&#8217s leading expert on the issue.

Those problems are painfully obvious in many locations this spring.

In Ellicott Creek Park and other Erie County parks, geese have soiled picnic areas,

playgrounds, baseball diamonds and soccer fields. They have even caused traffic jams while

crossing roads near the parks.

On Grand Island&#8217s shoreline, some homeowners lie awake at night because of the

incessant honking of geese.

And at Buffalo Niagara International Airport, workers chase geese away from the runways

because of the birds&#8217 potential for causing airliner crashes.

The nuisance is growing with New York&#8217s goose population. The state&#8217s current

resident goose population is estimated at 250,000 &#8212 more than double 21 years ago, when

the state began compiling population surveys.

At least 10 percent of the state&#8217s geese &#8212 about 25,000 &#8212 live in Western New

York, the DEC says.

The goose population is nearly three times what the DEC considers a &#8220socially and

environmentally acceptable&#8221 number &#8212 85,000.

&#8220They&#8217re all over the place &#8212 near businesses, schools, universities, parks,

golf courses &#8212 you name it,&#8221 said Craig Cygan of the Town of Boston, whose business,

Borders on Patrol, uses border collies to chase geese. &#8220I&#8217ve been really busy this

spring.&#8221

&#8220It&#8217s a constant problem,&#8221 said James Hornung Sr., Erie County parks and

recreation commissioner. &#8220We try to deal with it as best we can. But when you chase the

geese away, they always come back.&#8221

Like most of the people interviewed for this story, Hornung has no problem with the geese

themselves.

The problem is what comes out of the back end of a goose after it has eaten. And geese eat

a lot.

An adult goose can produce a half-pound to a pound of droppings each day, according to DEC

officials and other experts.

Both the state and federal governments have taken steps to decrease the goose population in

recent years. Mainly, they have allowed hunters, farmers and others whose properties were

damaged by geese to kill more of the birds.

Hunting seasons and kill limits have been extended by the state. During the September

goose-hunting season, hunters can now kill up to eight geese a day, up from the previous limit

of five.

It is now easier for farmers and other landowners to get &#8220nuisance permits&#8221 to

kill geese that eat crops or cause other problems on their property.

And landowners are allowed to keep the goose population down by destroying goose eggs in

their nests, either by putting corn oil on the eggs or poking holes in the shells.

The DEC estimates that hunters now kill about 100,000 geese each year in the state, but the

goose numbers keep rising.

Geese patterns have changed over the years.

Resident geese are those that live in the state year-round, although some do migrate to

warmer climates during unusually harsh winters, the DEC&#8217s Swift said.

Jerry Donovan, who lives with his family in a beautiful shoreline home on Oak Harbor Drive

on Grand Island, wishes the geese that live nearby would go away for the winter.

&#8220That&#8217s where they spend the winter,&#8221 Donovan said, pointing to a dock about

100 yards away from his backyard overlooking the Niagara River. &#8220We hear too many of them

in the winter here. Believe me, it bothers your sleep a lot, all the honking.&#8221

Donovan knows one Grand Island man who uses firecrackers to try to chase the geese away,

but he said he and his family have learned to live with the problem.

&#8220One of the attractions of living out here is all the beautiful wildlife,&#8221 the

homeowner said. &#8220I just wish the geese would obey the town noise ordinances.&#8221

A similar view is taken by Rick and Nancy Milleville, who live in the Town of Tonawanda,

just across Ellicott Creek Road from Ellicott Creek Park, a popular geese habitat.

&#8220A few days ago, there were about 100 of them on the lawn by our mailbox,&#8221 said

Rick Milleville. &#8220We find goose poop in the entrance to our driveway all the time.&#8221

It is not unusual to see a couple of adult geese leading a dozen or more fluffy goslings

across Ellicott Creek Road, the couple said.

That is a cute sight, but it has caused many traffic jams, often stopping cars for five

minutes or more.

&#8220Some drivers get very angry about it,&#8221 Nancy Milleville said.

And there is the problem of walking through the park.

&#8220You really have to watch where you are stepping, because the droppings are

everywhere,&#8221 she said.

Cygan, of Boston, said he had a frantic call last week from an Amherst business owner who

told him that &#8220Canada geese are mugging my employees and customers!&#8221

&#8220The geese were trying to protect a nest&#8221 near the businessman&#8217s parking

lot, and they were getting up on cars and other vehicles in the lot, Cygan said.

A goose can live as long as 20 years, and a female can produce more than 50 young over her

lifetime, the DEC said. Geese mate for life, but if one member of a pair dies, the survivor

will find a new mate.

Geese really create headaches for the region&#8217s golf courses, but some have found ways

to deal with the problem.

Goose droppings used to be a major source of complaints at the Beaver Island State Park

Golf Course and at the two Town of Tonawanda courses, Brighton and Sheridan.

Thousands of geese used to live on the Beaver Island course, but now the number is

estimated at about 200, according to John S. McGinty, the golf course manager, and Fred C.

Myers, his maintenance supervisor.

&#8220Constant harassment of the birds is what works,&#8221 said John S. McGinty, the golf

course manager. McGinty has government permits to kill geese on the course, but he rarely

does.

Beaver Island employees always chase geese from greens and fairways, and McGinty uses a

gun, similar to a starter&#8217s pistol, to scatter the birds. He also uses his golden

retriever, Emma, to chase them.

But at times, goose droppings have been a problem at Beaver Island&#8217s sand beach and

its picnic areas.

Geese are rarely a problem on the two Tonawanda courses, thanks to a pair of border collies

that the town purchased about five years ago. The dogs, Topper and Mo, are owned by Jeff

Rainey, who manages both courses, and his assistant, Shannon Greco.

&#8220The dogs do a fabulous job. They have a natural instinct to herd birds from one place

to another. Geese don&#8217t like it,&#8221 Rainey said.

At Buffalo Niagara International Airport, the issue is a much more serious concern.

On Jan. 15, 2009, a commercial airliner with 155 people aboard made a dangerous splash

landing in the Hudson River after it collided with a flock of geese near LaGuardia Airport in

New York City.

Air cannons and starter guns are used to scare off the birds, said C. Douglas Hartmayer,

spokesman for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.