It’s Time to Join RSCA
By now you have received RSCA’s membership letter for 2010 and a special memento commemorating RSCA’s 40th Anniversary. As mentioned in our letter, we take pride in having dedicated ourselves for the past 40 years to making the Shores an even better place to live. Please help us continue to do so by lending your support. At $35.00, membership in RSCA is a great deal – please join us by sending in your payment with the card included with our letter.
Goose Update
Many of us in the Shores enjoy living close to wildlife, including our diverse population of resident and migratory birds. However, RSCA and the Pilot have received many letters and comments expressing concern about the problems caused by our resident population of Canada Geese. We may have too much of a good thing when it comes to these big birds. Their droppings seem to be everywhere (parks, sidewalks and swimming pools), and they saunter across our roadways as if they own the place. They are also a risk to aviation, as they can collide with and damage airplanes.
In addition to being unappealing, droppings of Canada Geese are a potential health hazard as they are host to dangerous microbes. For example, recent studies have found Escherichia coli, Listeria and Campylobacter bacteria strains in geese feces.[1] This means that our children when playing in our parks are exposed to the risk of illness should they come into contact with the goose droppings that blanket the area.
As an organization that works to preserve the high quality of life in Redwood Shores, we decided to investigate this problem. It turns out that there are a variety of ways in which other communities have attempted to fix their goose problem. Some have engaged dogs to harass the geese in the hope that they would move away (this was actually tried in Redwood Shores a few years ago); others have addled eggs so they would not hatch. Neither of these solutions is ideal as both are costly and labor-intensive and some would object to them as inhumane. What we are looking for is a cost-effective solution to reduce the number of geese in the Shores – humanely and safely.
We believe we found such a solution in the form of OvoControl G-Oral bait, which we have asked the City to consider applying on all impacted areas in Redwood Shores. As reported by the USDA in 2007, OvoControl G “is safe and effective in reducing hatchability of eggs laid by resident Canada geese.”[2] Due to its effectiveness, application of OvoControl G should gradually reduce the numbers of hatchlings and, as a result, goose droppings in the Shores. Moreover, this should involve little more than setting out the treated bait.
Our desire is to have a community where our children and pets can enjoy our sidewalks, lawns and parks without concern about unhealthy conditions due to excess goose droppings. This is a public health issue, and we will continue to work with the City to make sure that they do everything possible to solve it.
[1] See USDA article, “Avian Diseases: Carriage of Bacterial Pathogens by Canada Geese and Blackbirds.”
[2] See USDA article, “Nicarbazin OvoControl G Bait Reduces Hatchability of Eggs Laid by Resident Canada Geese in Oregon.”
— Submitted by Doug Crisman, RSCA President