Angry birds: Geese on the attack

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Angry gaggles of geese are getting rowdy around Chrysler Headquarters in Auburn Hills causing the company to issue an alert to employees.

Numerous attacks by Canadian geese prompted the alert for employees to beware of nesting geese.

“It’s a little unusual but it’s a known behavior that geese do when they’re nesting that they’ll charge at you, they’ll flap their wings and in some cases, rare, but they will actually make contact with a person,” Rochester Hills Park Ranger Lance DaVoe said.

DaVoe said Chrylser’s flyer is a good idea. It’s not that the geese are all that dangerous, but that someone could fall and break something or suffer a head injury trying to get away.

“They are absolutely a menace,” Hampton Golf Club Superintendent Chris Clark said. “All they do is poop and eat and they make a mess and they terrorize people.”

Clark clears nests from the golf course. He said he doesn’t touch the birds, only moves them along in an effort to prevent them from setting up nests on the course.

The male, a gander, is known as a sentinel and is the first line of defense, but the female will fight too.

“The big thing is to back away from them and kind of watch where you’re going as you’re making your move, but don’t turn your back on them and don’t run from them,” DaVoe said. “Keep eye contact and just back away.”

Geese are a migratory bird and are protected by the federal government.