It may be a small achievement, but sometimes they
are the best kind. Beginning last year, and reoccurring
this spring, a pair of (love birds?) geese had
frequented my swimming pool early each morning.
When I first noticed them out my bedroom window I
was mildly amused. The amusement stopped when I
discovered the mess they were making on their daily
stop to swim.
For a time I would go outside to chase them off, but
that required me to get up earlier than planned, and
know the time they would arrive. That strategy proved
to be unsuccessful, and then they disappeared until
this Spring.
I began to observe that they arrived at first light, which,
at the time,
was about 6 am sharp. One morning I set the alarm
for just before 6, then tried to hide on the porch, to
spring out and scare the geese.They approached on
schedule, honking loudly, but just as their feet hit the
water they relaunched, taking off again even before I
could react. I guessed they
had seen me and were scared away.
That was the origin of my "scare goose" plan. (See
photo above.) I built and installed, possibly the
world's first scare goose, which has worked perfectly
ever since. Now that June has arrived the scare goose
has
been put in storage for next Spring. I'll be curious if my
wild friends will try to return, but for now, it's good to
feel the success of a clean pool for the summer
swimming season.
Share Your Own Experiences
If any of you have similar tales of solving every day
problems with innovative solutions, please email your
stories so I can share them.
