stand on guard for thee

A regular reader in Northern Virginia noticed the recent post about my alma mater and forwarded this message about an issue facing the students and staff at George Mason University:

-----Original Message-----
From: Office of Housing and Residence Life
Sent: Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Subject: Canadian Geese Management Program

Over the past several months the Canadian geese population at George Mason Fairfax campus has increased dramatically. The result has been a greater health risk for the university community and increasing traffic problems. As a result, Mason has secured the services of Windchazer, Inc., a Virginia-based firm that specializes in geese management and in helping organizations deal with this type of situation.

Beginning Friday, March 10, faculty, staff and students can expect to see the beginning of a process that could ultimately take a full year to rid the campus of the geese. Windchazer is bringing in a team of border collies trained to chase the birds off campus in a way that is not harmful. The dogs will be brought back to campus in the days, weeks and months to come until the geese population has been removed.

The university and Windchazer are working closely with animal rights organizations to ensure the safety of the birds and dogs in this effort.

I've had a soft spot in my heart for Canadian Geese ever since I was a kid and my great-uncle Billy told me that the geese were calling my name. Instead of "honk honk," Uncle Billy said the geese were saying "Fronk Fronk."