URBANDALE, Iowa —

On a summer day in Urbandale’s Lake View Park, about a dozen Canada geese lounge next to the water.

Years ago, the birds overran the park to the point that it was almost unusable.

So the city explored options for “geese mitigation,” which means moving flocks or motivating them to move away, said Scott Hock, the city’s assistant director of parks and recreation.

The solution: Gertie.

“She almost looks like a little fox, a little monster,” Hock said.

Horticulture technician Allison Bose handles Gertie through remote control, similar to a video game.

“It has all the different joysticks and stuff on it,” Bose said.

In fact, Bose met Gertie on nearly her first day as a city employee three years ago.

“I wasn’t expecting her to look so predator-like, with all the teeth

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