Unwelcome visitors

Most stories in the newspaper started from a really lively meeting in some Boardroom. I imagine that this one started from a presentation by the local cemetery supt. to the city council for a annual budget item for 50 car washing wands and a capital expenditure request for a $22,ooo four wheeler with a 200 gallon water tank. "We need this so we can wash the goose shit off the tombstones."

Cemetery Wants to Deter Geese Des Moines, Iowa – The city has tried everything from grape juice to dogs to try to drive away the massive goose
population at Glendale Cemetery. Sprayed on the grass, the juice is supposed to make the grass taste bad to waterfowl. But when that didn’t work, the city decided to seek other methods to control the 700 to 2,000 geese, which they
consider a health threat and nuisance. The geese soil grave markers and expanses of lawn and their water can spread disease. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has advocated releasing a dog to chase the geese. Crews may
also spray a commercial product, and they may spread products made of feces and urine from goose predators, something that alerts the geese to choose a new pond. The city planned a two-week, $1,500 goose-harassment campaign; when the geese return in the spring, the parks department will spend another $750 to discourage the geese from nesting in the cemetery. Once geese nest in an area, they usually come back every year. The city does not plan to trap and move the birds, or to kill any.