Residents, visitors and politicians in the towns of Lake Como and Spring Lake have a geese problem, and they are working together to combat it.  

“The problem is really bad. I'm so happy they are doing something about it. They get very angry, very aggressive whenever I'm walking my dog in the morning. It's like chasing him away, trying to chase them away whenever I'm trying to walk. It's bad,” Trisha Roach of Lake Como said.  

The towns share a lakefront property and are working together to solve this issue.  

Spring Lake Borough Administrator Bryan Dempsey explains, “If you look around the lake, you’ll see retaining walls. On top of the walls, you’ll see goose poop. And the paths they put in, we have this beautiful area around the lake, and they don’t want kids walking in goose mess.” 

The towns pooled together $1,500 a year to invest in a geese management company – Galaxy, a 1-year-old shepherd.

Lake Como Administrator Andrew Huisman explains that hiring a dog is the most humane way of enforcing geese control, “I know there’s other areas I've heard they actually use poison or trapping control – this is the most humane way to do it.”

It can take upward of one month for geese to relocate after being chased.