Steve Wambolt demonstrates his goose-chasing drone.
It appears on the horizon like some kind of gigantic insect: lights flashing, sirens blaring, blades spinning.
Meet the Goosebuster, a six-pound, six-armed goose-chasing machine.
Since last July, local tech expert and remote-control enthusiast Steve Wambolt has been putting his invention to work by scaring geese off Petrie Island as part of a $30,000 City of Ottawa pilot project.
With that project coming to a close, the city has posted a “standing offer” for someone to get the geese off of the Ottawa River island, located in Orleans about 15 km east of Parliament Hill. If the applicant is successful, the contract could be expanded to include other city beaches and green spaces.
Wambolt is confident that his unique approach and proven method will give him the edge in securing the contract. Orleans Coun. Bob Monette agrees.
“The reaction he gets from the geese is incredible. As soon as he starts his machine, their necks go up and once it is airborne, they go into formation and fly away,” says Monette.
A number of different tools have been used to scare away geese including dogs, decoys and even Meeker’s Magic Mix – an all-natural fertilizer made from fish-based compost.
But despite these efforts the geese have always come back.
“The Goosebuster is the only thing so far that has change their behavioral pattern and they have not been returning,” says Monette.
Wambolt credits Monette with the idea for the invention.
The two men were meeting to discuss aerial photography using drones when inspiration struck.
“Coun. Monette leaned off his chair and put his hand a foot or so off the ground and said, ‘How low can your drone fly?’ ” recalls Wambolt.
“I thought the guy was nuts, then he said, ‘I wonder if you could use that to chase geese?’ And bam – Goosebuster was born.”
In recent years, Canada geese have turned from a national icon into a nuisance across the city, prompting city council as well as the National Capital Commission to look for ways to scare them off.
Geese are attracted to any area with short or cut grass that is close to a body of water making the Ottawa River shoreline an ideal habitat for the pests.
“Your average adult goose eats up to four pounds of grass daily,” says NCC spokesman Jean Wolff. “It also drops half of that a day, that means two pounds of poop per goose per day.”
The NCC has been keeping track of goose populations on the Ottawa River since 2010.
Statistics from last year reveal that more than 4,000 geese have been calling the river home on a regular basis.
That translates into 3,600 kilograms of goose poop being dropped daily in Ottawa parks and along the river corridor that forms Centretown’s northern boundary.
Goose poop may seem like nothing more than an inconvenience, but it is the second leading cause of bacterial contamination in the Ottawa River and can lead to serious health concerns.
“When you have high levels of E. coli in the water, people are put at risk of things like skin infections, diarrhea, nausea, muscle aches, and in worse cases viruses, respiratory infections, or hepatitis,” says Rachel Balderson, a researcher with Ottawa Riverkeeper.
Applications for the “standing offer” close on April 2, at which point staff from the city parks and recreation department will select the best proposal.
To date, the application has been downloaded by 10 potential bidders, but Wamblot says he isn’t afraid of a little competition.
“I don’t mind jumping through the hoops,” he says. “The more work I put into it . . . the more satisfying it’s going to be when I get it.”