A resounding boom and a shower of sparks faded over the Olentangy River in the early gray light. Jeff Pelc lowered his pistol. But the geese that Pelc was hired to scare away were already gone. The city's plan to frighten them with fireworks and laser beams is working, said Pelc, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services.

A resounding boom and a shower of sparks faded over the Olentangy River in the early gray light. Jeff Pelc lowered his pistol.

But the geese that Pelc was hired to scare away were already gone. The city�s plan to frighten them with fireworks and laser beams is working, said Pelc, a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services.

�I�m working myself out a job,� he said yesterday morning.

Pelc and his crew started patrolling the east bank of the river near Ohio State University about two weeks ago. Their small, off-road vehicle rumbles along the multiuse trail until they find geese on the banks. They beam lasers near the birds to spook them and added fireworks to their tools on Friday.

The goal is to frighten geese away long enough to let plants grow along the muddy riverbanks, which were exposed after the city demolished a low-head dam near W. 5th Avenue. The city is trying to renovate the banks, but geese have been eating seeds and plants needed to prevent erosion.

�We just need them to leave for a short time, then they can come back,� Pelc said.

Many have already taken flight.

On the first day of work, Pelc counted 75 geese gathered along the river between 5th and Lane avenues. On Monday, he counted 13.

Yesterday, he found about a dozen geese between 5th and Lane avenues. Some fled just at the sound of the vehicle. Five flew south as Pelc chased them with a green laser beam. He and his workers had planned to fire up to 100 fireworks a day, but geese have been so sparse that Pelc fires about 10.

Signs along the Olentangy Greenway Trail warn cyclists and runners that they might hear explosions during the work. The trail has been busier as weather warms, so Pelc waits until the area is clear before shooting fireworks. Still, the booms and sirens of the explosives can echo far down the river.

No one seemed startled by the lasers and fireworks yesterday.

Much of the work now will focus on shaking geese that have made nests, Pelc said. Others have fled fast, but those that are hunkered down are tougher to spook. If needed, his workers have a permit to remove the Canada goose nests, which are protected by the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

For now, the work is busiest early in the morning and soon after the sun sets, when geese from elsewhere come to sleep. The city set aside up to $100,000 to pay for the project through the end of December.

�Hopefully, we�re done well before that,� Pelc said. �This initial effort is probably the most you�re going to see of us.�

cbinkley@dispatch.com

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