Fireball-blasting cannon keeps problem geese away, inventor says

A Manitoba outfitter and guide has invented a handheld cannon that shoots fire balls at geese. We're not joking,andneither is the inventor of the device, who says it can be used to scare thebirds and their mess away from urban greenspaces and ponds.

"The poop, the water, it's just people don't want to walk in it," saysTerryLeochko, whohas dumped over $12,000 in patent fees into the non-lethal deterrent, dubbed "the goose blaster."

"Italk to people on soccer fields, golf courses, [who] hate 'em. It's not the birds it's just the poop."

The blaster consists of an aluminum tubular device that uses a roman candlecartridge to project fire balls, preferably in the direction of geese and other so-called "pest" species, Leochko says.

"It doesn't harm the geese. I shoot above the geese, the geese lift up; I shoot under the geese, and it works," Leochko says.

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"I have crows, seagulls, I had deer in the yard, and I shot it and they just leave, they don't all like the ball of light."

The device shoots up to 100metres and Leochko says it's safe, because he primarily shoots it into the water.

So far, he hasn'tbeen granted a permit from the City of Winnipeg to use the blaster within city limits.