A local village is dealing with a major geese problem, as some residents in the village of Oconomowoc Lake have complained about geese making a mess in the community.
Evidence of geese gaggles can be found all over the village, in the form of what they leave behind. Now the Village Board is considering options for geese removal.
"They're dirty and there's just so many of them," said Karen Straka, who has lived in the village for nearly 20 years.
She says she enjoys watching the geese but doesn't like cleaning up after them.
"They'll cross this road here as many as you can get on there, they'll eat and then poop all over the grass, it's really kinda nasty," she said.
The village has received several complaints recently from residents who are fed up with the geese.
"You can have 20 or you can have 120," said Donald Wiemer, the village administrator and police chief in the Village of Oconomowoc Lake.
Wiemer says the village board has invited someone from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to advise them on their options for geese removal.
"One of them that they do on Lac La Belle is a goose roundup," said Wiemer. "That's been successful over there."
In a roundup, the geese would be euthanized, tested and given to food pantries.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says a non lethal option would be using noise or bright lights to haze the geese, but that might only be a temporary solution.
Wiemer says they can also get a permit to oil the goose eggs, and prevent the fetus from hatching. The geese will then leave on their own to find a new place to nest.
Wiemer says he has heard from residents for and against geese removal. He says residents would have to give permission for them to access their property in a goose roundup, so if they don't want the geese removed, they can deny access to their property.
All of the options will be discussed at the next village board meeting before any action is taken.
"Most people just don't care for the geese and the mess they leave behind," Wiemer said.
Residents are invited to attend the village board meeting on May 15 to hear the options from the USDA.
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