Along The Hudson River, 'Goose Control' Is A Mission That's Gone To The Dogs

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An unusual team of experts is helping to control the geese population from taking over Hudson River Park where flocks tend to congregate and leave behind a mess.

As CBS2's Raegan Medgie found out, the experts hired for the job enjoy the goose chase -- a mission that's gone to the dogs.

Avon, a border collie has an important job: to chase geese off the lawn, and out of the water at Clifton Cove in Hudson River Park off Pier 96.

"We're dealing with a nuisance problem, geese droppings on lawns," Noreen Doyle, Hudson River Trust said.

Hudson River Park wanted a humane way of dealing with the gaggle of geese which at times reaches 150, so they hired goose chasers from New Jersey.

"He does all the work. I just give him the commands," Gilbert Anaya said.

Avon shares the responsibility with four other dogs at the company. Each patrols the Hudson River Park area by kayak. Then, when a flock of geese is spotted Avon jumps in and doggie paddles after them.

"The geese think they're safe once they get into the water, and not used to getting chased in the water," Anaya said.

If it wasn't for Avon and his team, all of Hudson River Park would be covered in piles of...well you get the idea.

"One goose produces about one pound of waste a day," Anaya said.

An amount no one wants to see, especially on land, which is another area Avon monitors.

"I think it's great, it can help with the geese poop around here, and we can actually sit in the grass instead of rocks in the shade over there," Ashley Rose Perez said.

If you happen to see a dog swimming around the Hudson he's doing his best to keep the geese away.

Goose chasers said the trick to keeping the geese away is chasing at different times of the day.

Eventually the geese will think the area is unsafe and stop coming back.