The device used to scare off geese from the Village...

The device used to scare off geese from the Village of Babylon golf course takes flight. Photo provided by Geesebusters, May, 2019. Credit: Geesebusters

Watch out geese, the hawk is coming for you.

Leery of the winged visitors that nest and leave droppings behind, Babylon Village has extended a contract with East Northport-based Geesebusters to scare away the birds from the village-run E. Donald Conroy Golf Course at 75 Cedar St.

Company owner Robert Guadagna flies a kite that looks like a bird of prey over the geese beginning in early spring.

“The big thing is to get the geese out of there before they lay the eggs,” Deputy Mayor Kevin Muldowney said.

Guadagna arrives around 5 a.m., Muldowney said, adding "he stands there, whenever the geese come, flies this kite and they get scared and they take off.”

The village has tried other methods of geese control, including dogs and stationary silhouettes of dogs, as well as a remote-controlled device that traveled along the land and water, but it was poorly made and broke quickly, Muldowney said.

Geese respond to the bird of prey kite, he said. “You’d think it was an eagle, it’s huge.”

Mayor Ralph Scordino said the program works because the geese remember the device and visit less often.

“They’re very patterned” and remember what area is safe and which might be visited by a predator, he said.

The village has hired the company for a few years, according to Muldowney, and recently agreed to an annual contract to spend no more than $4,000 for the service. The company bills the village for each session, varying from around $200 to about $400 depending on whether it’s half-day or full-day, Muldowney said.

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