Cheyenne city officials say the purchase of a specially trained "goose dog" about a year ago has essentially solved the problem of too many geese in city parks.

City Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Brandon Peterson says over 200 geese used to inhabit Holliday Park and over 60 of the birds used to live at the Airport Golf Course. The birds raised sanitary concerns because of widespread goose feces in the parks, and residents commonly reported the birds acted aggressively towards park visitors, hissing at them and frightening children and others.

City officials had tried an egg addling program (rendering the goose eggs infertile), using loud noises to frighten the birds and a variety of other approaches, none of which were successful.

Ticketing and fining people for feeding the birds also had little impact.

Because Canada geese can live for over 35 years and many of the birds had inhabited the parks for many years the problem seemed to defy solution.

But the city spent $6,000 on Flo, a specially trained "goose dog" about a year ago. Flo is trained to mimic the actions of the arctic fox, the main predator of Canada geese, frightening, but not killing the geese.

Peterson says Flo has essentially solved the problem, reducing the goose population in Holliday Park and the Airport Golf to a couple of pairs or so each.

City officials held a news conference on Tuesday to showcase Flo and the technique she has used to all but eliminate the birds from city property.

Peterson says Flo regularly makes the rounds of city parks and properties, but because she has done her job so well there are few geese to chase away anymore.

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