About
Kirk Mehlhaff started Gooseworks several years ago, after contemplating what he should do after the sale of his successful home inspection business. Not content just to work on his ever increasing "honey-do" list, he took up his wife's suggestion to use their talented, highly-trained herding dogs to clear geese off of corporate and public areas. The idea was inspired by a corroborative meeting between the Michigan Border Collie Association, of which Kirk's wife, Wendy Villarreal, is the current President, and the Michigan DNR and a representative of the Humane Society of the United States. The meeting explored the humane use of border collies as a deterrent to the increasing population of Canada geese on heavily used public and private properties. It seemed to be the perfect solution but required the formation of a private company to handle contracts on a per-fee basis. Hence, the birth of Gooseworks.
Although they knew that the dogs could easily transfer their herding skills from sheep to geese, Kirk and his wife worked a private golf course on a gratis basis to honed the dogs skills and to learn the peculiar habits of Canada geese. Kirk worked closely with the Michigan DNR, earning certificates of goose round-up and egg replacement as well as earning the permit to perform goose hazing. He also studied landscape modifying techniques and other physical scare tactics that work in combination with the canine hazing to reduce geese populations in specific locations. The results were amazing. Within a two week period of time, the geese were virtually eliminated from the test property. This early success attracted the attention of several local news services, including Channel 2, Channel 7, Channel 50, Channel 56, Channel 62, the Detroit News, the Ann Arbor News, and the Detroit Free Press. Gooseworks has also been featured in the Canton/Plymouth Observer, the Canton Focus newsletter and Canton cable television.
If your property has problems with pest geese and you would like to experience the same remarkable results, please contact Kirk Mehlhaff and the Gooseworks team to schedule a free consultation and canine demonstration. Let us take the worry out of pest geese!