Problem: Nature gone wild

We all love homes and buildings that blend harmoniously with the natural environment. But when builders are too successful, nature can move in and turn your beautiful facility into a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Birds.”

Before: The St. Francis Health Care Centre, Spring Green, Ohio, is located next to the largest sulphur springs in the world. Drawn by its year around warmth, geese moved in and stopped migrating, and their droppings created a mounting maintenance and health hazard for the facility.

After: St. Francis managers tried several cures before finding one that worked, a product aptly called GooseChase from Bird-X. Although nontoxic to animals and people, geese find its taste terrible and simply leave areas where it has been sprayed. The birds now live across the road, safely out of harmful way.

That was the scenario facing Duane Kimmet, operations manager and safety officer of St. Francis Health Care Centre in Spring Green, Ohio. The facility rests near a pond that just happens to be fed by the world’s largest sulphur springs. The springs spout one million gallons of water per day and never freeze. It is a major magnet for ducks and Canada geese — in fact, they have stopped migrating South and now winter over in the springs.

“It was always a problem,” Kimmet says. “But it was getting worse in the last three or four years.”

The geese were aggressive, especially around the main building, and their droppings accumulated on sidewalks, driveways and in the parking lot. Crews had to scrape up the mess twice a week.

These conditions were both unsightly and unhealthy, particularly for the vulnerable patients in the medical facilities. After trying several solutions, all unsuccessfully, Kimmet went to Bird-X, Inc. The company recommended GooseChase, a a product made from Concord grapes, which though harmless to birds and humans, tastes terrible to geese.

“After making a few passes across the area around the main facility with a hand pump sprayer, the geese stopped coming,” Kimmet says.

The amount of droppings plummeted immediately. Clean-up costs plummeted substantially, and occasional repeat applications have kept the grounds goose free. Item 135

This article appeared in the April/May 2007 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright 2007.

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