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Pool Accident Funny!

Chasing ducks away can take patience and ingenuity

QUESTION: Ducks have invaded our backyard swimming pool. We purchased a prowler owl (plastic owl), and the ducks pay absolutely no attention. You can image the mess in and around our pool. Any advice?

ANSWER: Check out your local party store and buy several helium-filled Mylar balloons with faces and big eyes, suggests Laura Simon, field director-urban wildlife for the Humane Society of the United States. It's the big eyes that freak out the ducks. Scare-Eye Balloons feature two big reflective circles vaguely resembling giant monster eyeballs.

Another idea from Simon: Send out motorized boat patrols in your pool. Of course, a dog might even be more efficient at patrolling the pool. However, not all dogs feel ducks are worth a bark. And some ducks aren't intimidated until a dog jumps into the water. If you don't want to adopt a dog, another option is to hire one; find a company with dogs trained to chase birds. While these professional dogs are efficient, they're not inexpensive.

Simon says using any of these methods alone or in combination, will sooner than later deter the ducks and they'll simply go elsewhere, perhaps to your neighbors.

Written by Mika on March 3rd, 2010 with no comments.

State EPD may keep pools dry this summer

For many people, a summer without swimming pools is unthinkable. But it may come to that, if Georgia's extreme drought does not abate. Under the Level 4 drought restrictions currently in place in 61 North Georgia counties, outdoor swimming pools cannot be filled or "topped off" with municipal water.

Kevin Chambers, spokesman for the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, said EPD director Carol Couch has the authority to exempt all swimming pools from the ban. But he hopes that's a decision that won't need to be made, if Georgia starts getting normal rainfall. "It's premature to speculate on what spring is going to bring," Chambers said.

But Jimmy Gisi, executive director of the Georgia Recreation and Park Association, said managers of community pools need to be able to plan ahead. "We are in conversations with the EPD about this," he said. "We need a decision soon, because we're getting to the time of year when you have to start advertising for lifeguards for your summer programs."

Melvin Cooper, director of Gainesville Parks and Recreation, said he is proceeding under the assumption that he will be able to use the Green Street Pool this summer. "We're moving forward now with the hope that winter rains will ease the drought restrictions somewhat," he said.

Recreation managers aren't sure what to expect, because they've never been in this situation. When Level 4 drought restrictions were declared last year, the summer season was already over.

Cooper said water from last year is still in the Green Street Pool, protected by a cover. "Typically we drain and refill it just before opening (for the season)," he said. "If we are not able to fill the pool, it is possible to re-treat the existing water. But not being able to top it off is a concern."

Written by Mika on March 8th, 2010 with no comments.

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