Gaggles of geese got to go

424

This past winter during the social isolation of the pandemic and the extreme cold of the February polar vortex, I dreamed of summer at Beaver Lake with friends and family. I bought a motorhome and made reservations out at the Dam Site Park and Indian Creek Park. In addition to being very scenic, these U.S. Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds are well equipped and inexpensive. You just have to make reservations at recreation.gov about six months ahead if you want spots on weekends.

My first camping trip was four days in mid-June. While the water was beautiful, the #22 campsite was covered in droppings from about 25 Canada geese that make their home year around on the Dam Site island. These geese have little fear of people.

After that trip, my two-year-old grandson, a friend, and I all got sick. I can’t prove the illnesses were caused by the geese. But you only have to search the internet to find out there are a lot of concerns about goose droppings.

“Over the last decade the Canadian [sic] goose population (protected by international treaties and protection acts) has increased rapidly such that in many cities they have become a pest rather than an admired wild bird,” a publication by the National Institutes of Health proclaims. “Their increasing numbers have caused a number of potential healthcare concerns including: physical, bacterial, parasitic, allergic and viral potential problems. The Canadian goose fecal droppings of one per minute have caused falls and the flying geese have caused air traffic accidents. Bacterial concerns, including botulism, salmonella and E. coli have all been reviewed and presented concerns.”

I was hoping there wouldn’t be any geese issues for our next lake outing to Indian Creek on July 9-12. However, when I arrived at this beautiful campsite, #13, about 25 Canada geese were on the beach. Both my campsites were open areas with grass nearby, the kind of habitat preferred by the geese. Since my friend who had gotten sick at Dam Site thought stepping on the goose droppings with bare feet could cause illness, I used rubber gloves and picked up goose poop for over an hour. I also avoided putting my head in the water. Unfortunately, my grandson swallowed quite a bit of lake water due to waves kicked up by the large speed boats. When he got back home, he was sick again. I felt really bad for endangering him and disappointed that my dreams of summer camping at the lake had been ruined by an overpopulation of geese.

My last day at the campsite, I noticed the geese were dropping poop all over the children’s playground. The sand volleyball court was too contaminated to play in.

The Arkansas Department of Health tests the swim beaches at both locations and did not find elevated fecal coliform levels. However, my family and I were swimming off our campsites which, considering the amount of goose poop, was not a good idea. And the ADH doesn’t test for all the pathogens carried by geese, either.

When I contacted Landon Thurman, the chief recreational ranger, Beaver District of the Corps, I was gratified to learn they are aware of the problem and plan steps to address it.

“Normally those geese are migratory birds, but with the expansion of civilization and the way we keep the grass mowed, and people who feed them, we have developed in different pockets around the country groups of birds that no longer migrate,” Thurman said. “They have found they don’t have to go north and south. That does present a problem. We have tried different measures like lasers to scare them off or a grape flavored substance on grass that they don’t like. But those just work for a short period of time.”

They are in the process of getting permits from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to do a goose roundup. Arkansas Game & Fish wants to help. The plan is that at a certain time of year when the geese are molting and can’t fly, they will be harvested and donated to food banks to feed the hungry.

“We are working towards that,” Thurman said. “That will probably be beneficial to reduce numbers to the point we need. I camped on site #9 on Dam Site and found the same type of situation with goose dropping. You can pick them up, but then they drop more. Walking on goose dropping is not a pleasant experience even if it doesn’t make you sick.”

A campground attendant at Indian Point told me she constantly has to ask campers to not feed the geese. And she tries to pick up the goose poop before someone checks in. But all it takes is for the site to be vacant and it isn’t long before the flock will walk across the campsite and mess it up again.

Reluctantly, I’m cancelling the three more reservations I had this summer to camp at these campgrounds. Since being in the water in the main draw, I won’t risk my health or the health of my grandson and friends again. But I’m very encouraged that the Corps has a plan to address the problem.

Randall “Jay” Townsend, chief of public affairs for the Corps Little Rock District, said they have other measures in place to help with the water quality around the swim beaches. For example, they don’t allow pets on the beach or in the designated swimming areas. This helps reduce waste from deteriorating the water quality.

“We take great pride in the work that goes into ensuring Beaver Lake is a viable water resource today and for years to come,” Townsend said. “Dozens of Corps of Engineers employees live around the lake and love to enjoy its abundance of resources, just like everyone else in Northwest Arkansas.”