DENVER – You’ve probably seen it, or worse, stepped on it if you’ve been to many of the city’s parks this year. But now, park managers across the Denver metro are finding creative ways to deal with the mess left by migrating geese.

Addenbrooke Park in Lakewood is just one of the parks finding innovating ways to keep the grass from turning brown – a change that’s not due to the changing of the seasons.

“We’re not allowed to harass wildlife, so that’s the slippery slope we run into,” said Lakewood Parks spokesperson Bill Clark.

So what’s one to do in order to keep the geese moving so as to avoid a layer of droppings from invading the grass?

Place coyote cutouts – decoys to ward off the birds.

“The geese see them as a possible predator and they don’t want to be around anything that could hurt them,” Clark said.

While the cutouts seem to work pretty well, it’s not 100 percent effective, so residents and dog owners have to be vigilant and continue to watch their step as they enjoy our city parks.

Watch the full story from Denver7 photojournalist Eric English in the player above.