By Laura Lane
That's been the case at Levy-Lakeside and to a lesser degree, Birch elementary schools for years. Both schools teach children not to lie on the grass or put their hands in their mouths. And the schools have textured mats at their entrances to ensure that children don¹t drag geese excrement into the buildings.
Ideally, school officials would like the geese to simply go somewhere else. This March, the Merrick School District began testing a novel, harmless approach to scaring the geese off and it's working.
Syd Freifelder, the assistant superintendent for business and technology, had wooden dogs placed on Levy-Lakeside's and Birch's lawns to keep the geese at bay. She first heard about the idea from a colleague in the Plainview-Old Bethpage School District.
Merrick custodians cut out the dogs from patterns and painted them. Poles secured in cement-filled holes support the dogs, which are detachable. Dogs are moved each day.
The dogs look realistic from a distance, especially when they move in the wind. Freifelder said the geese fear them. ³The lawn dogs have been very effective,² said Freifelder.
³But," Freifelder noted, "the geese are bright. When the dogs aren¹t there on the weekends, the geese come back.²
John Kohnken, the Levy-Lakeside principal, and Rita Ratner, the Birch principal, agree that the dogs have helped reduce the number of geese at their schools. Ratner said there are few geese at Birch now.
Kohnken was cautiously optimistic. ³We¹ll have to wait to see if the geese get acclimated to the dogs,² he said. ³But I think as long as they¹re moved, the geese will continue to be afraid of them. And the children don¹t bother them. There¹s been no vandalism with the dogs.²
Kim Rudolfsky, the Levy-Lakeside PTA co-president, said
the dogs have brought improvement. She added that still more could be accomplished if the public followed the signs posted at Cammanns Pond. ³People should stop feeding the ducks,² said Rudolfsky. ³They aren¹t migrating because they¹re being fed. Geese from surrounding areas come here too for the food.²
Comments? LLane@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
