'Goose whisperer' brings peace — and quiet

Hof says half his job is managing people.

Joke Fransen, walking her dog, complained vociferously about goose droppings.

"It's getting worse every year," she said. "Put them in a pan or make pate out of them, I say."

But after a few minutes speaking with Hof, she's beaming and laughing too. She likes the geese, just not so many, and she wholeheartedly prefers relocation to killing them.

To make Hof's strategy work long term, city workers also have to learn about bird birth control.

It's not complicated: every two weeks during the late spring, a worker needs to check near the edges of waterways for eggs. Smearing them with corn oil is an effective and nonpolluting way to prevent unwanted goslings.

Gerard Zwart of the Amsterdam's public health agency, which has hired Hof's company for several projects, says the city has been so influenced by his thinking it plans to rename its "Vermin Control Service" to the "Nature Management Service."

The cost of using Hof's service is about the same as the old eradication program, he says. A typical job of relocating 30 geese would be about $2,000-$3,000.

Peter Dejong / AP Geese wait inside a trap on July 16 after being captured at a park near Amsterdam for relocation by Martin Hof.

Capturing geese for transport is "the most stressful part," Hof says.

"Yes, yes, yes, girl, I'm not going to hurt you," he tells one. "Wow, you're a very tough guy, I can see that," he tells another that tries to nip him.

He kisses each on the back of the neck before loading them onto his "Royal Geese Carriage" that will whisk them away to a better life.

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