Methods and Techniques

[SHH]

The fields have been there since the 60's at least...they were not constructed by HLA. The lake has been there that long also. Also not constructed by HLA. The geese have been using the lake as a temporary home since then. If scarecrows work maybe it would be a good suggestion. But the health risks of geese and respiratory issues have been debated for a very long time. I did a search and found at least 20 sites disputing the health risk issue. A few going the other way too. I suppose it would depend on the quantity of geese, the time of year, and how long you actually spent close to the ground.

[Deborah]

Doesn't matter when or who constructed it- it was a design error.

SHH, any poop is going to have potentially harmful pathogens. That's why gardeners compost it before using it on their garden. There is no way to get around it- it's not sanitary. If your exposure is minimal and you practice good hygiene= hand washing, not tracking it into living/work areas, etc, you might be okay.
Would you allow your kids to play there and roll around in it? I wouldn't.

[juniper]

Shh, once again, I was just at the school and the fields are not fit for animals let alone children. It is truly disgusting! Trust me.  If they have closed down town ball fields and school
gym fields( Health Departments)there is a risk.
Believe me, Environmental would not waste the money or their time.  When they are alerted,
they usually are there within a day. They take their samples and BOOM!  But, you know what,
it is cleaned up, or closed down for good.

[SHH]

The field that had the geese for the most part was the one by the tennis court and the gazebo...have the geese now moved down to the lower fields? The lower fields did not use to have that many geese except right next to the lake and the wetland area.

[juniper]

All over.... droppings everywhere.  As I said in an earlier post,
a family could not walk their puppy there, it was
so gross. The point is, it needs to be cleaned up.  Geese like water, so naturally they will migrate to it and that means the lake, then any surroundings.  All we
had at one school was a stream in front of it,
down by the road.  The enire field was shut down -
no sports for one month. and, that was just a stream that brought them in by the hundreds. So,
one can imagine what the lake brings.

[juniper]

Deborah,
'Til I can PM, please just send them an e-mail
with your story, as long as you can back it up.
That would be a great help.  Many thanks.

[SHH]

Those geese dont live there year round...they are migratory and spend a few months there from what I remember. And every time it rains it washes the geese droppings into the dirt or down the hills. Sounds like you were there during their migration time and yes its gross at times but not like that all year or all the time.

[RobertBruce]

Mrs. Grey AGAIN you discuss things you know nothing about. Maybe just maybe and Im sure this is just crazy talk, but maybe the kids who were forced to go down to that field every day would have a better idea of what its like, over you who stayed at the completely opposite end of campus and had little to no interaction with the students or even the campus for that matter.

[SHH]

Robert I was on campus EVERY SINGLE day during the week delivering mail to the office. I went to the lake almost every weekend with the kids. I took the kids to the stream to play every summer about once every 2 weeks. I was on campus and not just at my house which was next to the townhouses. I also lived on campus twice as long as you. I do believe I was on campus frequently enough to witness the geese and the fields. Whether you think so or not is irrelevent. I also was at my mother and father in laws house which was right across from the boy's dorm and I was there probably every 3 or 4 days and the weekends. OH NO I had no contact with the campus at all. Yea RIGHT. Remember Robert, I lived there 4 years. Did you? No, you didnt.

[ This Message was edited by: SHH on 2005-04-26 10:43 ]

[juniper]

Hello???  the rainwashes it down?  It spreads it, into the ground.  The moisture from the ground, grows more bacteria, it festers. Themoisture from the rain feeds it.
That's why they have to clean it up.

[SHH]

The rain dilutes the concentration Juniper, it washes it into the ground. And it rains alot up there. North Georgia gets rainfall so often that it comes in second to the pacific northwest which is the wettest area of the country. I dont know what area of the country you reside in so I dont know how often it would rain in your area to dilute the fields. It is no different from any other field in the country. Birds, dogs, cats, wild animals, etc all use rural fields. The rain doesnt increase the bacteria, it dilutes it. Once again, the issue of whether or not geese pose a health hazard has been debated for years. There is no hard evidence. If you knew of a school that shut down a field it was probably as a precaution to ease parents minds, not due to a real hazard. I found at least 7 websites right off the bat that stated there is no proven health risk. Even when bacteria is present in areas, there is debate on whether or not it actually can cause harm to humans. But go ahead and petition to get the geese removed if they can, it might take awhile for the geese to leave though because they have been visiting that lake for years. Suggest the scarecrow idea.

[SHH]

http://www.canadageese.org

http://www.all-creatures.org/cash/cc99- ... geese.html

http://www.hsus2.org/sheltering/magazin ... icle2.html

http://www.washingtonfreepress.org/51/PublicHealth.htm

These are a few of the ones I found, and there are those sites that show the other opinion also so its been a debate for years. But there appears to be no real hard evidence showing that walking in a field with geese will make one sick.

[RobertBruce]

Mrs. Grey you are beyond dumb. I'll tell you what though, lets test your little theory about no ill health effects. Lets allow dozens of geese to come by and crap on your lawn, we'll do this for a couple of years consecutivly and then force your children to go play in it every day for two years straight. I wonder if they'll have any problems?

Oh and again you give yourself far to much credit. You and Fat Bill had zero interaction with the students or the campus beyond his office. You never spent time with any of the students, I met you all of once and that was the only time I ever saw you. Ive asked numerous other former students if they remember you, none of them do, because you were never around. In fact many of them were surprised Fat Bill was even married. Why is that Mrs. Grey? Maybe we were all just to stoned to ever notice you.

[SHH]

Well seeing as how we lived on campus, we were married for almost 7 yrs, had 3 children on campus, visited my mother and father in law every 3 or 4 days on campus, and I went to Bill's office to deliver the mail every day during the week, ate in the cafeteria at every thanksgiving and several times a month, I doubt seriously your claim that ANYBODY didnt know Bill was married or knew who I was. Was I invisible? I dont think so. I also used the copier in the admin building every time I sent out report cards. Maybe they didnt know my name, but they sure as hell saw me because every time I was out in the yard, or on campus, or down by the lake, I saw students. Was I invisible then? NO I dont think so. What about he bonfire at Halloween that was my idea, I attended that. What about the fireworks the first 4th of July. I attended that. Maybe the people you happen to speak to just didnt pay attention. But if I was up there and lived there they KNEW he was married...DUH. His kids visited the office at least once a week. IF anybody thought Bill wasn't married they were living in the clouds or something.

[Deborah]

"Walking in a field" with geese probably wouldn't present a serious concern. And was not the issue. Another mute argument.
Sitting on it, doing push-ups in it, playing any kind of ball game in it, tracking it into buildings, would significantly increase the risk.
Is goose poop totally free of harmful pathogens? Say a kid was playing tennis or football and the poop got on the ball and therefore on their hands. And then that kid neglected to wash their hands.
If I lived near a situation like that I'd have my kids play elsewhere and they certainly wouldn't wear their shoes into the house if they'd been tromping around in it. They'd change clothes if they sat in it.