The plastic coyote didn't spook geese like city officials had hoped it would. So they're taking a new approach: laser beams and explosives. Half an hour before sunset on Wednesday, wildlife experts will start shooting small, noisy fireworks over the Olentangy River between W. 5th and Lane avenues. Some erupt in a bang, others in a whistle, but both are designed to scare geese.

The plastic coyote didn�t spook geese like city officials had hoped it would. So they�re taking a new approach: laser beams and explosives.

Half an hour before sunrise on Wednesday, wildlife experts will start shooting small, noisy fireworks over the Olentangy River between W. 5th and Lane avenues. Some erupt in a bang, others in a whistle, but both are designed to scare geese.

�They�re basically a small, little projectile fired out of a starter pistol, similar to what you see at a track race,� said Jeff Pelc, a wildlife biologist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services. �They�re pretty loud.�

Teams of two USDA wildlife workers will fire about 100 rounds over the river every day until December, stopping half an hour after sunset. When they aren�t shooting, and when it�s darker outside, they will beam powerful lasers near the geese, which mistake the light for a predator and fly away, Pelc said.

For that work, the city will pay $100,000. City officials referred questions about the project to Pelc.

Geese have been thwarting the city�s plans to grow grass and other plants along the newly widened banks of the Olentangy. They eat seeds and hang out on the flat, bald land where there is nowhere for predators to hide.

But without plants, the widened banks are vulnerable to erosion. �It�s a muddy mess down there right now,� Pelc said.

Contractors tried several schemes before this to shake the birds. After the decoy coyote failed, workers sprayed foul-tasting chemicals on the new seeds and set up low fences on the fresh ground. But about 150 Canada geese continued to live in the area.

There�s urgency to the project because the geese have started to breed. They aren�t nesting yet, Pelc said. Once they do, it becomes much more difficult to make them leave. It doesn�t matter where the geese go, he said, as long as they leave the newly renovated riverbank that�s been exposed after the demolition of a low-head dam near W. 5th Avenue.

Ohio State University has been warning students and faculty members about the noise. The school has several buildings alongside that part of the river.

�Loud noises similar to fireworks or a car backfiring, sirens and whistles will be heard along the river as part of this effort,� officials wrote in an email to students and workers. �This is being shared to avoid confusion and alarm.�

The work could end sooner than December if plants take hold and start growing along the riverbank, and there likely will be fewer explosions after the first few weeks. The project includes weekly surveys to gauge how the vegetation is growing and whether the noises are scaring geese away.

Workers can�t capture or kill the geese without a permit because the birds are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. But if the new plan doesn�t seem to be working by late summer, leaders of the project will consider applying for permits to capture and kill the geese, Pelc said.

cbinkley@dispatch.com

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