Spring turning Scioto Mile green…and brown and white

The Scioto Mile is great for jogging, strolling, and biking but unfortunately for us, it’s also great for nest making.

While there are no geese calling the stretch of green space home just yet, that doesn’t mean they won’t.

The City of Columbus has a 13-month contract with SCRAM!, a service that chases away Canada geese using dogs and regulates the population by shaking eggs

A SCRAM! official told The Dispatch two border collies, Qwik and Blaze, and their handlers are at the Scioto Mile every day.

But this contract will end on May 15.

Then what?

Last year, SCRAM! ran into some trouble when the stubborn geese continually returned after being run off, forcing the Columbus Department of Recreation and Parks to round up 250 geese and euthanized them with carbon dioxide.

This is perfectly legal as the Humane Society of the United States often gives U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service personnel permission to kill geese in urban and suburban areas.

Simply relocating these birds is not an option because they will simply fly back to the riverfront.

The city has no plans to euthanize the geese as of right now but how will they opt to handle the copious amounts of droppings expected to splatter the pavement once the SCRAM! contract ends?

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