Although the Canada Geese that populate our campus mostly stay in the Quad and Lake Marion area, their droppings are always a point of conversation among Saint Xavier University’s students, staff and faculty all over campus.
Maggie Schlott, a senior, resident, nursing student bluntly stated, “It’s nasty and makes the campus look bad.” She also compared her walk to class as a walk in a minefield because she had to avoid all the droppings.
Besides posing an aesthetic problem, the geese droppings pose a health hazard in Lake Marion, according to associate professor of Biological Sciences, Dr. David Elmendorf. He said, “There can be parasites that they [the feces] carry. You would not want to bathe in or drink the water in Lake Marion.” Coming in contact with Lake Marion water could give a person Swimmer’s Itch, an inflammatory immune reaction to parasites commonly found in bodies of water that are home to many water birds.
There are no health risks associated with geese feces as they are found on the quad unless students come in direct contact with the feces.
The health risks from the geese feces are very low, since students typically don’t go in Lake Marion or lick the sidewalks in the quad, but the feces are creating an environmental problem at Saint Xavier University. The feces are “contributing to a lack of life in Lake Marion,” according to Dr. Elmendorf.
Dr. Elmendorf says the nutrients from the feces in the lake contribute to the overgrowth of algae. Those algae decrease life in the lake by releasing toxins, blocking sunlight to the bottom of the lake, and decreasing the oxygen level in the lake. During the summer there have been times when many of the fish in Lake Marion die because of the effects of the algae and also because there is less oxygen in warm water. The frogs, turtles, and geese themselves, are also negatively affected.
Geese feces have many negative affects, however there are relatively little ways of preventing the feces. Dr. Appelt, associate professor of Biological Sciences at Saint Xavier University, described the method of physically rounding up and transporting the geese elsewhere as very costly. He observed this method in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is labor intensive and require permits since the Canada Geese are protected by law.
The population of Canada Geese could be lowered if landscaping is added to the area surrounding Lake Marion. Dr. Appelt says this is because the quad and Lake Marion provide a perfect place for the geese; the geese prefer a flat area, where they can graze, next to a body of water with relatively little around it, so can flee to safety in case of a threat. Landscaping would also add to the appearance of the lake, which mostly students consider unappealing.
The easiest solution to the aesthetic issue the geese feces pose is, perhaps, the least suggested. Maggie Schlott mentioned the idea of having the sidewalks in the quad power washed with water in the mornings. That would require labor, but it is something that student workers could do in a short amount of time.
David Rodriguez
News Editor