Methods
Vilas
and Brittingham Parks
We counted the number of geese present in the various zones of the appropriate parks. (Map 1, Map 2) We used binoculars to count the number of geese present in the various zones throughout the parks. To avoid counting one goose multiple times, we used two different observation techniques to minimize our margin of error. In Vilas we compared numbers from two counters and a third person kept track of any geese that crossed the zones. In Brittingham, counters started at different ends of the park, one each at zone 1, zone 2, and zone 4, and worked towards the central location of zone 3. (Map 2) We took daily statistics of wind and temperature from Weather Underground. Our goose count data was collected between noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, both for convenience and because we felt that it would be near the middle to high range of the temperature for that day. We utilized previous count data that had been taken from Vilas Park during 2001-2003. (Unpublished data, Edgewood College) We used Weather Underground’s weather almanac to find the maximum temperature for those days which weather observations were missing. We used this data, along with our own data to construct graphs.
Vilas
and Yahara Hills Golf Course
In Yahara Hills Golf Course, we counted geese using binoculars. Holes 1, 9, 10, and 18 were the areas where geese were counted. All counts were added together and temperature was recorded from The Weather Channel, for each day that we counted.