The population of geese in the United States has increased greatly in the last ten years. As this population has grown so have conflicts between humans and geese. In Vilas Park, parents are worried about their children. Zone 2 is made up almost entirely of soccer fields in which children are constantly playing. Geese leave great amounts of feces and feathers in areas in which they spend time (Smith, et al, 1999). Parents are worried that their children will be exposed to the feces left in this area by the geese. In the fall and winter months, the largest number of geese occur in zone 2 (Lorman 2003). Geese in this zone are a big problem. Not only are these geese a problem for people in the area, but the feces also leads to contamination of the lakes in the area (Lorman 2003).
There are many ways in which people have thought of to combat
this problem. Some of these options include: placing walking paths around bodies
of water, placing fences or rock barriers around bodies of water, and also
placing alternate areas of food sources for the geese away from the areas that
people use (Smith, et al, 1999). Another way that people have thought of to
combat this problem is to plant a native vegetation buffer. Native vegetation
buffers, which are native plants planted around the small lagoon in Vilas Park,
are meant to keep geese out of zone 2. Geese like to be able to see water from
wherever they are. Vegetation buffers are meant to block the view of water for
the geese, making them feel unsafe in zone 2. With this buffer in place, geese
cannot see water from zone 2.
The purpose of this study is to find out if the native
vegetation buffers have had an effect on the fall population of geese,
especially the geese in zone 2. Our hypothesis is that the native vegetation
buffers have decreased the number of geese in zone 2 for the fall population of
geese. We also feel that the percentage of geese in zone 2 will decrease in 2005
with the partial vegetation buffer in place, as well as in 2006 when more of the
vegetation buffer was planted.
This study was performed because there needs to be some way
to keep the people in the park happy, as well as to keep the population of geese
in the area under control. The native vegetation buffers may be a fairly simple
solution. We want to know how well these buffers are working, to see if they
should possibly be extended into other zones as well.