CHAMPAIGN, Ailing., (WCIA) — Once you’re driving in Champaign, it’s possible you’ll be conversant in a sure roadblock on North Prospect Avenue. Not an orange visitors cone, however geese. 

Researchers on the U of I are learning their conduct and what actually occurs when people attempt to chase them away in parks and ponds. 

Mike Ward, a professor within the Division of Pure Sources and Environmental Sciences at U of I, stated geese are lots smarter than we expect. 

He stated the birds get used to the folks round them, that’s how sensible they’re. They’ve discovered that people aren’t actually a risk. 

Ward is a part of a group of researchers who began harassing geese close to Halfway Airport in Chicago. They needed to study if chasing them actually saved them away or not.

They discovered that chasing them away doesn’t imply they’ll keep away. 

“Once we run at them with clapping, we’re not really gonna kill them,” Ward stated. “It takes them just a few days however they understand we’re only a nuisance, we’re probably not an enormous risk. Lots of instances we’re in areas with numerous inexperienced grass, that’s what they need, so they arrive again.” 

They tracked their motion with a GPS system just like a FitBit. 

“It’s not simply getting geese out of your yard, however out of the area,” he stated. “You possibly can scare a goose and it’ll go to your neighbor’s yard or the subsequent park, however when you have good locations to feed and a secure spot, they’re going come again, normally inside an hour.” 

He added that they know we aren’t to threaten their survival. Now, their subsequent steps are attempting to determine the way to transfer the geese out of the parks and into the countryside the place they’ll additionally feed. 

Ward stated it’s not unimaginable to maintain geese out of your yards. He suggests for short-term options, you may both spray your grass with one thing like pepper spray or preserve the grass a little bit longer. 

If it’s longer, it makes it tougher for them to waddle they usually must use extra vitality to fly as an alternative.