Dogs allowed: Worcester looking for four-legged solution to geese gatherings at city parks

WORCESTER — Spring has sprung and the geese have landed.

As the weather warms up, Worcester residents find they aren't the only ones frequenting local parks, with flocks of Canada geese taking up residence in city green spaces.

While this may seem innocuous at first, unlike human visitors, the geese do not pick up after themselves, and the increase in goose droppings can quite literally sully the experience for others. To encourage the birds not to overstay their welcome, the City of Worcester is now accepting bids from owners of trained dogs to patrol problem areas and prevent the geese from getting too comfortable.

Bidding closes April 10, with prospective contractors able to view the appropriate documents online. The goal is to frighten, not injure, the animals and ensure they don't settle in large numbers. Contractors will be expected to patrol the parks three times a week.

The job will begin July 1 and continue for a year. The specific parks requiring canine assistance include Elm Park, Green Hill, Institute Park and Coes Pond, among others.

Though geese and other birds are welcome to stop over on their migrations during the spring and fall, these particular waterfowl are no snowbirds and are a non-migratory subset of the state's Canada goose population. These resident geese are the result of captive birds being released into the wild following the outlawing of live decors in the 1930s, and with no pattern of migration to follow, the birds began nesting, according to MassWildlife.

Additionally, between 1960 and early 1970s, more geese were moved from coastal areas to Central and Western Massachusetts, where the population exploded. While wild geese have a typically short lifespan of about four years, said MassWildlife, urban populations can live almost twice as long as their rural counterparts.