Town Working to Solve Geese Issues at Bathing Beach

For years, Bathing Beach has been plagued dealing with geese that have refused to go away. But now, the town may finally have an answer.

Trying to find a solution to the ongoing problem, Town Administrator Ted Alexiades and the selectmen discussed their newest attempt to rid the area of geese.

According to Alexiades, the selectmen have received about 30-40 emails from residents, with the exact same wording, with concerns about how the issues surrounding the geese and their droppings have been addressed.

“They (The Bathing Beach Trustees) have been diligent trying to solve several problems with Bathing Beach. These are not easy problems for us to get to, there are laws so we can’t net them and take them away,” Alexiades said.

Alexiades said that the Bathing Beach Trustees have agreed to try to tackle the issue, spraying the area to discourage the geese from hanging around the parking lot and grassy area at the beach.

Mark Cullings, president of the Hingham Farmers Market said that the latest efforts have but effective but does not consider them to be a permanent fix.

“It’s a temporary fix because it’s discoursing geese from coming to the parking lot and they’re are going somewhere else but from an organization that uses the parking lot 30 weeks a year and draws 1,000 people a week in good weather, this has been the most successful season regarding geese feces pickup,” Cullings said.

In addition to the spraying, which will start up in February or March depending on the weather, the trustees will be addling the eggs left by the geese to prevent them from hatching

“The thing we’ve learned is that they’re creatures of habit. Once they come to an area, they return. If we can break that habit with continual treatment, hopefully that gets them away from the area,” Bathing Beach Trustee Alan Perrault said.

More work will be done on solving the geese issue when the trustees are scheduled to meet on Jan. 6. Residents interested in attending are advised to check the Town of Hingham website for full details and meeting time.