Well...........................
ODESSA, TEXAS (KMID/KPEJ) ---
An over-crowding of ducks and geese has become a problem at one Odessa park.
At Memorial Gardens Park near JBS Parkway and 42nd Street, officials said the birds are running rampant and leaving behind more than just a webbed footprint.
"They're chasing people," Odessa Parks and Recreation Director Steve Patton said. "They chase people who are employed at nearby businesses."
Patton said he's gotten numerous reports of aggressive geese and ducks, which is a reason why the park is closed for the next ten days.
"There's a great amount of the fowl fecal content there," Patton said. "We have children playing in the area and they don't have shoes on. I was warned there's E. coli and salmonella potential in their feces."
Patton said they've spent $6,000 since January 1st to clean the sidewalks from the bird poop and a normal sidewalk maintenance cost is less than $1,000 a year.
"That's taxpayer's dollars that we could use someplace else," Patton said. "We've got limited resources and I'd like to spend it on something that's positive that we can make a difference in the rest of the park system."
So how do they plan on reducing the overcrowding issue of ducks and geese? By calling in the Texas Wildlife Services Program to take care of it.
"The ducks and geese will be removed with an oral tranquilizer," State Director for the TWSP Mike Bodenchuk said. "We feed it to individual birds in a small bread bait. The ducks or geese will then go to sleep. We pick them up and take them off-site and they will be euthanized."
Bodenchuk said they plan to euthanize 30 geese and 60 ducks in the most humane way possible.
"We plan to use bottles of carbon monoxide gas in order to humanely euthanize the birds and we'll dispose of the carcasses at a landfill," said Bodenchuk.
Bodenchuk said he expects backlash from people who disapprove of these methods, but in the end, he stresses the fact that they're doing the right thing.
"We respect those people who love these ducks," Bodenchuck said. "We do too. It's an unfortunate situation that efforts have to be taken and the birds have to be euthanized."
ODESSA, TEXAS (KMID/KPEJ) ---
An over-crowding of ducks and geese has become a problem at one Odessa park.
At Memorial Gardens Park near JBS Parkway and 42nd Street, officials said the birds are running rampant and leaving behind more than just a webbed footprint.
"They're chasing people," Odessa Parks and Recreation Director Steve Patton said. "They chase people who are employed at nearby businesses."
Patton said he's gotten numerous reports of aggressive geese and ducks, which is a reason why the park is closed for the next ten days.
"There's a great amount of the fowl fecal content there," Patton said. "We have children playing in the area and they don't have shoes on. I was warned there's E. coli and salmonella potential in their feces."
Patton said they've spent $6,000 since January 1st to clean the sidewalks from the bird poop and a normal sidewalk maintenance cost is less than $1,000 a year.
"That's taxpayer's dollars that we could use someplace else," Patton said. "We've got limited resources and I'd like to spend it on something that's positive that we can make a difference in the rest of the park system."
So how do they plan on reducing the overcrowding issue of ducks and geese? By calling in the Texas Wildlife Services Program to take care of it.
"The ducks and geese will be removed with an oral tranquilizer," State Director for the TWSP Mike Bodenchuk said. "We feed it to individual birds in a small bread bait. The ducks or geese will then go to sleep. We pick them up and take them off-site and they will be euthanized."
Bodenchuk said they plan to euthanize 30 geese and 60 ducks in the most humane way possible.
"We plan to use bottles of carbon monoxide gas in order to humanely euthanize the birds and we'll dispose of the carcasses at a landfill," said Bodenchuk.
Bodenchuk said he expects backlash from people who disapprove of these methods, but in the end, he stresses the fact that they're doing the right thing.
"We respect those people who love these ducks," Bodenchuck said. "We do too. It's an unfortunate situation that efforts have to be taken and the birds have to be euthanized."
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