Canada using laser beams to fight off unwanted geese

A goose on the loose is an emergency for Canadian farmers. Geese pray on crops such a barley and wheat, chewing on them during the night when farmers are sleeping.

Geese love to eat the green shoots of grain crops, severely damaging the livelihoods of arable farmers.

To fight this pest, six of the brightest minds at the University of Vancouver are on the case.

They plan to create what they call a 'hi tech scarecrow' to ward off the pesky geese using LASERS.

Speaking to CBC Radio One, Peter Rashleigh, one of the six student inventors, explained how the device would work:

Geese are very effectively scared by lasers, especially green lasers, even at very low power levels...What we've done is created a device that automatically moves that laser beam across a specified target area — in this case, your field — at regular intervals all night long.

To prevent the laser from disrupting aircraft it has been programmed to automatically shut down if pointed above the horizon. It also uses less power (and human arm waving) than a regular laser pointer.

The device is still in prototype, and Rashleigh plans to begin the first tests on his own farm located on the Saanich Peninsula, British Columbia.

Using 'lasers' sounds like overkill for some hungry geese. Perhaps this is all a cover for a much more sinister Canadian plot.

Picture: Edited by Louis Dore

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