MCT Campus provided photo

Geese poop, on average, about once every 12 minutes, according to ‘The Truth About Poop’ by Susan E. Goodman. Apparently that’s one of the reasons Northern Kentucky University officials felt the need to place ugly coyote decoys around Loch Norse.

Personally, I always liked seeing the geese waddling around campus, almost like a few dozen of NKU’s very own pets. I do admittedly avoid walking the sidewalks around the lake most times because, while I’m a fan of the geese, I’m not so much a fan of their droppings.

That being said, I think I like the goose poo more than I like the weird looking fake coyotes lurking around the lake on campus. I understand that geese droppings are unsanitary, messy, and annoying. I also understand that NKU is running out of ideas to ward away our feathery friends, but I wish they could find another way.

I think it is great that the maintenance department was able to find a solution spending only around $100 altogether (even though the cutouts seem heinous to me), but I am not so confident in the solution itself. NKU has tried to get rid of the geese before to no avail, and I am just wondering if this ‘solution’ is going to end up just as flat as the previous.

Paul Frazier, a past NKU grounds and transportation superintendent, has been quoted as giving testimonial on a goose deterrent Web site saying ‘The University spent over a million dollars to make our two ponds a focal point for the campus, but the project was not complete until AwayWithGeese.com took care of our geese problem.”

Now, obviously, the geese have come back! For some reason, the geese must have simply adapted to the floating, flashing lights. What is to keep them from discovering that the coyotes are actually decoys, so they can waddle right up to them and make friends?
He also said that we paid all that money to make our ponds a ‘focal point’ on campus.

Now, I don’t know about you, but there is nothing better that I can think of than to add a big ugly fake dog to a wonderful ‘focal point.

I do realize the hazards of having the geese on campus, and I am not a complete wishy-washy ‘save the birds!’ kind of person. However, I just get a little sad when I think that, even for a short time, the campus might become goose-less. At least the geese are kind of pretty.