Town uses goose distress call to ward off geese in parks

An Ocean County town has taken an interesting approach to reduce the number of geese in its parks.

Toms River officials have taken to using goose distress calls to ward off the birds, who they say were becoming a nuisance.

The sound speakers in Huddy Park were installed last September.

"It sounds like a duck is holding a microphone and quacking into it,” says Jackson resident Imani Vogleson. "I was wondering maybe it was a joke or if it was actual ducks honking into the sound speaker."

But Craig Ambrosio with the Toms River Parks Department says that this is no joke. He says that the geese have been causing issues at the park, such as leaving droppings behind.

"We probably had about 100 resident geese last year. We've reduced that by at least 70 percent with the strobe lights, which interrupt their mating habits and sleeping habits,” Ambrosio says.

Ambrosio says that the sounds coming from the speaker used to also include a coyote and shotgun sound, but he says that now they have settled on the goose distress call.

Township officials say that they could not be happier with the results.