Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
the l ock. In a recent survey, one-quarter of all golfers felt that all of the geese,
a native species, should be removed. But ef orts to harass, cull, and relocate
geese are expensive, unsettling to some people, and must be ongoing to be
even moderately ef ective. Most managers see these actions as being inef ec-
tive in the long run.
A more sustainable approach to reducing the use of golf courses by geese
is to make the space less appealing to them. Increasing distances from open
water to grass, reducing the turfed area, and employing border collies to chase
geese are ef ective ways to reduce the environment's attractiveness to grazing
birds. The very nature of a golf course will always include some prime goose
habitat and therefore will always attract some of these birds, but planting nat-
ural shrubs rather than turf where it is not necessary will benei t other species
while also limiting geese. Such has been the experience of Scott Nelson, a
course manager in the sandhills of south-central Kansas.
The natural links at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan-
sas, are a birder's and golfer's delight. The course is challenging and scenic,
with fairways that undulate up and over sand dunes. A poorly hit ball is always
in a tough lie, deep in the native grass and scrub rough. The native prairie
birds and people of Hutchinson both win from the dunes' development. The
course has hosted many national championships, adding to the town's econ-
omy. The natural vegetation of the course itself has lower maintenance costs
than would be incurred on a well-watered, all-turf course. This benei ts the
owners' pocketbooks and keeps geese at bay. Golfers rarely complain about
geese, which are outnumbered by robins thirty to one. Many other birds thrive
at Prairie Dunes as well. In a study that compared the diversity of the course
with that of a nearby natural area, scientists recorded nearly equal diversity
between the sites—i fty-seven species of birds on the course and sixty-three
of . Nine species were found only on the dunes, and i fteen were found only
in the reserve. Naturalistic golf courses such as this one complement other
