Madisonville Police officers are not shooting the waterfowl at Kefauver Park, MPD Chief Gregg Breeden said Thursday.

The Advocate & Democrat received a complaint and Breeden himself said he had received a call alleging his officers were shooting ducks at the park.

But Breeden said there is no truth to the accusation.

“The ducks are not bad,” he said.

The Madisonville Police chief said the geese at the park do create a mess and from time to time MPD tries to scare them off.

“They usually come back in three or four days,” Breeden said of the geese, which seem to outnumber the ducks. “It’s kind of like blackbirds in your yard.”

At the park Thursday, walkers pointed out several dead waterfowl and an empty box of .22 caliber shells were found near the lake.

Breeden said he had not had any calls about any residents shooting at the ducks or geese at Kefauver Park. He isn’t sure what happened to them.

Breeden said he didn’t think anybody would shoot a gun in the busy park.

He said turtles are probably the biggest threat to the ducks.

“The turtles get their legs,” Breeden said.

A Madisonville resident who said he fishes at the park every day said it is very common for turtles to capture the ducks, especially the young ones.

The fisherman said he hadn’t seen anybody shooting a gun during his daily visits to the park.

Madisonville is not the only local city to have a problem with too many geese.

The Sweetwater Recreation Department has battled a large population of geese at the Duck Park, south Highway 11 along with the Willow Creek residential development.

Like Madisonville, Sweetwater officials say they have undertaken a campaign to scare off the geese but not shoot them.

tommy.millsaps@advocateanddemocrat | 337-7101