Council looks to solve Windsor's goose droppings problem

Windsor councillors on Monday will look options to control the number Canada geese and their droppings along the riverfront.

According to a city report, the 311 service has received about 20 complaints about the poop since 2013.

Clean up with water and shovels is currently part of Nicholas Badour's job with the city.

"Stuff is being done about it but, I guess there always could be more. It would take a lot of time and a lot of effort right?" he said. "We clean up the goose poop one day and then it's there the next. Not much you can do about it."

The city's former parks director, Phil Roberts, helped author the report.

He says controls to keep the birds away from the water in the first place should be looked at before cleanup measures.

"If council were to choose not to look at controlling geese in a more active sense, we have included in the report [that] you may want to look at cleaning up after geese," he said. "In a good wildlife control program, you tend not to look at that because if your controlling the birds from being in a location that you don't want them. Then, you don't have droppings. You don't have the mess afterwards."

He will present suggestions on how to deter geese from congregating along the Detroit River at Monday's council meeting.

Roberts says physical barriers, scare tactics and physical removal are some of the options council will look at.

Three years ago, hundreds of Canada geese threatening the safety of Windsor airport were herded into a horse trailer and relocated from the city to Holiday Beach in Amherstburg.

If the city can't control the birds, he recommends the city purchase a sidewalk sweeper and hire a dedicated operator to deal specifically with the droppings.