Hillsborough gets permission to post signs.
By:Alec Moore
The township is taking a proactive stance to alert drivers that deer are not the only animals that often find themselves in harms way while trying to cross major roadways in Hillsborough.
Over the past two years, 10 geese nine in 2001 and one in last year were struck and killed in Hillsborough. No injuries to humans were reported as a result of striking the geese, and only minor vehicle damage reported.
The majority of those collisions occurred along the strip of Amwell Road between Route 206 and Raider Boulevard. A large gaggle of geese make their homes in a pond on the eastern side of the roadway.
As a result, the township this year approved two "Geese Crossing" signs as a means of letting drivers know that the geese do attempt to cross that particularly busy stretch of Amwell Road.
The geese crossing situation is especially problematic in the early summer months when many geese cannot fly.
While most people are aware that geese are capable of flying extremely long distances, particularly during migration season, when they are known to fly up to 3,000 miles, few may be aware that geese are incapable of flight between early June and late July while they are molting.
During the molting period adult geese lose their wing feathers and, as a result, they lose their ability to fly as well. The geese are able to fly again roughly six weeks after molting.
The two signs posted on Amwell Road were posted with the approval of Somerset County, since Amwell Road is a county thoroughfare.
The Hillsborough Police Department had initially issued the request to the county to have the signs put up in response to an appeal from animal rights advocates.

