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LEHIGH VALLEY WEATHER

Salisbury Township: Who ya gonna call? Goosebusters

You’ve heard the coloquial expression, “Madder than a wet hen.”

Have you heard the expression, “Nastier than a Laubach Park goose”?

That description is expected to cause the Salisbury Township Board of Commissioners to restart the Geese Eradication Program at William H. Laubach Memorial Park, 1600 Lehigh Avenue in eastern Salisbury.

“One guy knocked on my door and said, ‘Hey, commissioner, I got attacked by a goose who hit me on the head,’” Commissioner Vice President Robert Martucci, Jr. told a reporter for Salisbury Press after the April 14 township meeting.

The geese, or goose, it is believed, was defending a nest.

Martucci, who lives across the street from the park, spearheaded a program to get rid of Canada geese that were plaguing the park.

Commissioners decided not to continue the program this year because there were no reports of geese in the park.

Until now.

“I’ve had two calls about being attacked by a goose,” Martucci told commissioners.

“One person used pepper spray [on the goose],” Martucci said.

Township commissoners agreed they should look into resuming the geese erradication program.

Salisbury Township Assistant Manager-Director of Finance and Acting Township Manager Cathy Bonaskiewich said she would inquire about resuming the program.

In 2009, Commissioners approved a $9,300 contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Service to reduce a flock then estimated at 50 Canada geese at the park at Lehigh Avenue and Fairview Road.

As of deadline, it was not known if it’s too late in the season to erradicate the geese, or goose.

It is not known how much it will cost to resume the program.

The annual program took place in spring and fall. In spring, a U.S.D.A official coated nest eggs with corn oil, which chokes off oxygen, preventing births and controlling the geese population.

Goose guano is a health hazard for those using the park, especially participants in Salisbury Youth Association sports contests on playing fields and spectators attending the games.

There’s a ban on feeding geese in the the 14.25-acre park, which includes a pond stocked for youth fishing.

A public hearing on the Laubach Park and Franko Farm Park Master Plans was to be held April 18 in the Municipal Building.