The South Bend Tribune reports that last year Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood urged parks staff to explore alternatives to having the geese killed, noting that a roundup could be used as a last resort if the public’s health and safety were in peril.

The city has set aside $15,000 in its parks budget for “animal control” and has already spent roughly half of it on snow fences, speakers that play geese alert calls, signs to warn against feeding the geese and wildflowers to block their path on riverbanks. A chemical that makes grass look less appealing to geese will also be applied.

In June, the city hired a contractor that gathered and killed 589 geese plaguing the city’s golf course and parks.