The Los Medanos College parking lot isn’t just home for students. Pedestrians share the road with the Canadian geese that live on campus, and they can be quite territorial.
Geese tend to walk across the street like any pedestrian, which at times can create traffic jams, causing headaches for drivers.
Student Ivan Urrutia had to wait for the geese to cross the front of the school.

“They made me late for class,” Urrutia said.
There have also been incidents in the past where people have been attacked by geese. Jennifer Perry recalls a time when she was chased by a white goose in one of LMC’s parking lot.
“It actually made a hole in my pants,” said Perry. “I had to throw my bag of chips at it to leave me alone. I even jumped into the back of a pick-up truck.”

The reason why the Canadian geese waddle around the campus is because they call LMC’s lake home.
“They need to drink water pretty often,” said Russ Holt, the Facilities Manager.

Holt who takes part in taking care of these birds said the main thing he tries to do to keep up the campus is to maintain the number of birds that flock to this part of Pittsburg.
“During the summers there are hundreds and hundreds of them,” said Holt.

The college personnel also try to prevent the geese from mating.
“We have a permit to stop the eggs from hatching,” Holt said. “We have only done that once.”

There haven’t been any signs of mating or baby geese around the lake and on campus. Holt believes this could be because some people may have taken the eggs while walking around near the geese’s habitat or they could have another mating ground.
The facilities manager and staff only take care of these birds until it becomes a health hazard, which according to Holt, hasn’t happened yet.

Holt has advice for students and staff who have trouble trying to get the geese out of the way so they can park. Just drive slowly towards them and they will stop and get out of the way.