Please don’t feed the geese.

Fairhope’s newest strategy in its ongoing man vs. fowl struggle to keep its municipal beach clean consists of an ordinance banning people from feeding them and a flashing amber light that officials hope will irritate them into going away.

Early anecdotal evidence suggests that the new measures may be working, though it’s too soon to be sure. Various reports have noted only a few geese, sometimes only one, in sight.

Feeding the geese and ducks that inhabit the beach, the pond and the park had been a Fairhope tradition, until the large and striking Canada geese became a nuisance and a potential health threat. As many as 200 geese at a time fouled the beach and the water, leading the city to round up and euthanize 41 of them in 2012. Fairhope citizens did not learn of the action until after it took place, and many of them were outraged.

According to City Council President Jack Burrell, the city left the geese alone after that. But the poop problem continued. Unhealthy bacterial counts have caused beach closures on a regular basis. An Auburn University study several years ago blamed the geese, but storm-water runoff, sewer problems and agricultural runoff have also been implicated.

The new ordinance, passed last month, prohibits feeding wild fowl on public property and carries a fine of up to $500. Signs have been place at the beach, but police so far are talking to people about the law rather than issuing a flock of citations.

“It’s a deterrent,” Burrell said. “We want to make people aware of it, but really, let’s be reasonable. How many people do you want to fine or, God forbid, be arrested for feeding a duck?”

Sgt. Craig Sawyer of the Fairhope Police Department said if officers see someone feeding ducks or geese they will inform of them about the law, but stronger action will be reserved for repeat offenders. No citations had been issued as of last week, he said.

“Most people aren’t really aware of it yet,” he said.

The second piece of the strategy is an amber-colored solar light that flashes every couple of seconds and is intended to disturb sleeping geese to the point that they will seek another home. One such light advertised on Amazon.com is priced at $329.

The Canada goose population nationally has mushroomed since the 1960s, when hunting and loss of habitat almost caused them to become extinct, according to the Human Society of the United States. Wildlife officials bred them in captivity and re-established them across the country. They settled in and for the most part did not migrate.

Today, Canada geese are a nuisance in many parts of the country. The Humane Society has published a guide to controlling the population (http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/wild_neighbors/canada_goose_guide.pdf) and a variety of anti-geese products are on the market.

Burrell said a citizen brought the idea of the solar light to him about 18 months ago, and he passed it on to a member of the new administration of Karin Wilson, who researched the product.

Cities across the country have passed similar no-feeding ordinances. The city of Gadsden passed one about five years ago because the geese were relieving themselves all over the golf course and creating problems at a riverfront restaurant where people would feed them their leftovers, said city administrative assistant Shane Ellison.

Gadsden also tried a product that discouraged waterfowl from munching on grass. Neither measure has been effective in keeping the geese away, he said.

“We just built a new Riverwalk, and they are all over the place, and just messing all over the thing.”