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DEDHAM —
They were all crammed into the family minivan: Jessie, a “genius” and natural talent who tracks geese as they fly through the air; Jamie, a rescued dog who cowers at raised voices and is very sensitive; and the newcomer, J. Wilbur, who is named after the pig in “Charlotte’s Web.”
John Sweeney drove, his wife Joanie was a row behind him, and their children Julia, 12, and Jack, 10 were in the back. On this delightful spring afternoon, the GooseBusters team was on the hunt for waterfowl – but the geese were hard to find.
Dedham’s ballfields were full of athletes, and its parks and Brookdale Cemetery had nary a goose. John said they’ve seen up to 60 in the cemetery.
The concentration of geese ebbs and flows, as their routines are disrupted, or they switch locations. Chasing them away is a temporary solution, at best.
“It’s like Whac-A-Mole,” Joanie said.
John said he figured that after all the rain the geese would be out last Thursday, but no such luck. A solitary goose was spotted off Rustcraft Road, but all in all the meandering drive turned into a chase with a well-known name.
Meantime, the Sweeneys, who live in precinct 1, talked about their unusual family business. The goose-busting began a few years ago. They got work with Dedham Parks & Recreation first, then the Boston Public Garden, and then a few places in Brookline. Their contracts call for visits to Dedham’s parks 13 times per week – twice a day, once on Sunday – and 10 times per week at the Public Garden and in Brookline.
They monitor Dedham’s parks all year, the Public Garden from May to the end of October, and a Canton golf course from March through October.
“It’s a big commitment, it really is,” John said. “Every day, you’ve gotta be out there.”
They both have part-time jobs apart from the business – John as an Amtrak conductor, Joanie at a hospital. She said she’d rather do the paperwork, but she does like going out with the three border collies in the mornings. “My concern is Wilbur jumping on a bride at the Public Garden. Swimming, getting muddy, and then jumping on a bride,” she said.
John loves taking the dogs out, saying, “When you’re not in a rush, it’s nice part-time work.”
“When it’s good, it’s good,” he said. “When it’s pouring rain and it’s cold and you have to walk down to the parks with wet dogs…”
They were all crammed into the family minivan: Jessie, a “genius” and natural talent who tracks geese as they fly through the air; Jamie, a rescued dog who cowers at raised voices and is very sensitive; and the newcomer, J. Wilbur, who is named after the pig in “Charlotte’s Web.”
John Sweeney drove, his wife Joanie was a row behind him, and their children Julia, 12, and Jack, 10 were in the back. On this delightful spring afternoon, the GooseBusters team was on the hunt for waterfowl – but the geese were hard to find.
Dedham’s ballfields were full of athletes, and its parks and Brookdale Cemetery had nary a goose. John said they’ve seen up to 60 in the cemetery.
The concentration of geese ebbs and flows, as their routines are disrupted, or they switch locations. Chasing them away is a temporary solution, at best.
“It’s like Whac-A-Mole,” Joanie said.
John said he figured that after all the rain the geese would be out last Thursday, but no such luck. A solitary goose was spotted off Rustcraft Road, but all in all the meandering drive turned into a chase with a well-known name.
Meantime, the Sweeneys, who live in precinct 1, talked about their unusual family business. The goose-busting began a few years ago. They got work with Dedham Parks & Recreation first, then the Boston Public Garden, and then a few places in Brookline. Their contracts call for visits to Dedham’s parks 13 times per week – twice a day, once on Sunday – and 10 times per week at the Public Garden and in Brookline.
They monitor Dedham’s parks all year, the Public Garden from May to the end of October, and a Canton golf course from March through October.
“It’s a big commitment, it really is,” John said. “Every day, you’ve gotta be out there.”
They both have part-time jobs apart from the business – John as an Amtrak conductor, Joanie at a hospital. She said she’d rather do the paperwork, but she does like going out with the three border collies in the mornings. “My concern is Wilbur jumping on a bride at the Public Garden. Swimming, getting muddy, and then jumping on a bride,” she said.
John loves taking the dogs out, saying, “When you’re not in a rush, it’s nice part-time work.”
“When it’s good, it’s good,” he said. “When it’s pouring rain and it’s cold and you have to walk down to the parks with wet dogs…”
There are other difficulties. Canada geese, which are overabundant in Massachusetts, are nuisances to some people, and stoutly defended by others. John said they butt heads sometimes with geese-lovers, or people who want the dogs kept on a leash.
“All we’re doing is discouraging them from being there,” he said.
The border collies – 6½-year-old Jessie, 4-year-old Jamie, and J. Wilbur, who is just 15 months – know the difference between ducks and geese, and are focused on herding the latter, not hurting them.
“When they catch them, they never put a tooth on them or anything,” John said. “They’re very gentle dogs.”
The Sweeneys are careful to avoid destroying or breaking a goose egg, a no-no that brings a high fine. It is harder to outsmart the birds. According to John, they recognize the minivan and the border collies.
“Sometimes before I even open up the door to let the dogs out, the geese are gone,” he said.
After almost an hour of searching last Thursday, the GooseBusters arrived at the Milton Hoosic Club, a golf course in Canton.
“Jessie, geese – go go go!” John yelled, pointing toward the water, as the dogs took off down a fairway. At its end, they swam across a pond greatly enlarged by flooding. There were no geese, just winter droppings by the tees. A goose produces 2.2 pounds of droppings a day, according to Joanie. “They’re phenomenally messy,” she said.
Jack immersed himself in the water too, which was somewhat worrisome for his mother.
“Ut-oh – snapper!” his dad teased. “Don’t look back, Jack. Just swim.”
Making it back across, Jack declared, “Freezing!” and stood up.
“I really don’t love dogs. They’re not my favorite to live with,” he said, explaining that his sister is more of a dog person. “I like cats. Quiet animals.”
Their cat is Jingles. In fact, while it wasn’t really planned, everyone in the family has a name that begins with J, including John’s father, Jack Sweeney, who also helps out. Bob the gecko is the “standout,” Joanie remarked.
At last, after almost two hours, the Sweeneys spotted the golden goose, sitting on a small dock in the pond behind the American Red Cross – quite possibly the same one they saw earlier in the afternoon.
By water and by land, the dogs followed the goose, which honked incessantly as it slowly swam here and there, fluttering and flying to another spot whenever a pursuer got too close.
“If there’s a nest here, and my guess is mom is sitting on it somewhere around here,” John said, pointing, “she’ll fly away, and then she’ll come back…a little bit later.”
The family kept encouraging their dogs to swim. After being chased for eight minutes, the goose finally had enough. She flew off into the distance, as Jessie tracked her in the parking lot.
Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby can be reached at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
