Harnett County Community Tries To Get Rid Of Geese

The geese are taking over, and neighbors are at their wits' end.

Tuesday was a great day for a picnic at Carolina Lakes. But a family had to share the beach with some unwanted feathered friends.

About 200 Canada geese have moved in and made the neighborhood their own.

But the geese are not the problem. It is what they leave behind.

"They drop a pound and a half to two pounds a day," Ken Spring said. "Each."

Spring is president of the Homeowners Association. He said the birds leave more than just an unsightly mess; they leave a health hazard.

"When it starts raining, all this washes into our lake," he said, looking at the droppings on the ground. "So the fecal matter in our lake changes from day to day, depending on whether it rains or doesn't rain."

The Homeowners Association formed a committee and took a drastic step to get rid of the geese -- an organized shoot.

Twenty hunters gathered Saturday to do their part at solving the problem. The association had rules on where they could shoot and how high. But as soon as the hunters took out their shotguns, the geese took off.

The birds came right back, though.

The homeowners worked with the Harnett County Sheriff's Office on the shoot. Another shoot was planned for this weekend, but because the first one did not work, the next one has been canceled.

The homeowners now want to give something else a shot -- like a fence around the lake or dogs to scare the geese off.

They said they will do whatever it takes to find a solution that will fly.