Oakland Asking For The Public’s Help

Oakland Parks and Recreation Department is asking the community for a little help in controlling the goose problem they have been experiencing along the waterfront at waterfront park.

According to a Facebook post by the Oakland Parks and Rec Department:

"Over the past few weeks, the Parks and Recreation Department and the Buildings and Grounds Department have been battling a serious goose problem at the Oakland Waterfront Park. We have been out there almost daily cleaning up goose droppings. We are experiencing a heavy increase in the number of geese at the park this year.

For those of you using the Oakland Waterfront Park area, you may notice some new items placed in the swim area over the next few weeks: Please do not feed the geese, and leave our deterrents uninterrupted.

We have placed a "coyote" by the beach to help deter the geese from coming on land at our park. Please leave this undisturbed!

We have ordered four more swans to be placed in the water, also to steer the geese away. The two we previously had there were working, but were vandalized. We need your help people!

Thank you all! We hope you can enjoy the park in a safe and sanitary manner!"

Yes, Canadian Geese are cute to look at but they also present a health risk to both humans and pets, and it comes in the form of droppings, on average, one Canadian Goose drops between 1 to 1.5 pounds every day. Multiply that by several birds and you have a serious bio-hazard health issue as these droppings have a hidden danger: dangerous diseases and bacteria like E Coli, Salmonella, Histoplasmosis, Campylobacter, Coccidia, and Giardia. Not to mention it's disgusting to see all over the place. So, if it doesn't get under control the birds can render beaches and parks completely unusable.