Why are Surfside Beach ‘goose whisperer’ and ‘Goose Man’ feuding on video?
Long brewing tension between Surfside Beach’s self-proclaimed “goose whisperer” and “Goose Man Jack” came to a head Monday with a brief, heated confrontation that each captured on video.
Jack Baldwin, who operates the Myrtle Beach-area goose control company, told The Sun News that Maria Pesce, an avid protector of geese, has been “bashing” his business on social media for several years, but Monday was their first in-person interaction.
Pesce told The Sun News the confrontation happened after she noticed the Goose Man Jack truck circling around her home numerous times.
She later posted short video clips on social media of their interaction. In one video, Baldwin tells her that “a friend of yours” called him to come, and that he’s about to sign a contract to “get all the geese out of here” and “make me a little richer.” In another video, Pesce asks his name, and Baldwin responds, “Are you really that dumb?,” before providing her a fake name referencing oral sex.
Pesce, who told The Sun News she has Asperger’s syndrome, said she interpreted Baldwin’s responses to mean he was being hired by the Town of Surfside Beach to kill the geese. She’s had negative interactions for years with Surfside Beach officials about them failing to protect migratory Canada geese, which are federally protected, Pesce said, and she regularly posts videos on her social media pages of residents harassing and harming the geese.
Baldwin told The Sun News he was in Surfside Beach surveying the area for a potential contract with a private resident, not the town, and he doesn’t kill geese. Pesce admitted she has no proof Baldwin has previously killed geese.
Goose control business
Baldwin denied circling Pesce’s house, but said he passed by it twice while he was surveying and noticed a large amount of geese in her yard. .
Baldwin’s video of the interaction, which he shared with The Sun News, shows Pesce pull her vehicle beside his truck, holding her phone and extending her middle finger toward him and telling him that she heard he kills geese before cursing at him and telling him to leave. That occurs before she asks his name and who called him to come here, as was depicted in the clips she shared. Pesce drives off after telling Baldwin, “Touch one goose, and you’ll be sorry.”
Regarding his crude responses to Pesce, Baldwin told The Sun News: “My name is right on the truck. ... She’s caused me aggravation for eight years.”
Baldwin said he’s considering legal action for defamation against Pesce and others who have posted on social media about him killing geese, while he said he only removes them humanely. His primary method consists of him using a remote controlled orange shark-like device that mimics a predator to chase off geese and discourage them from returning, he said.
Pesce said the geese in Surfside Beach don’t need to be chased off, and she emphasized the goose population really only spikes in July and August when the migratory Canada geese visit, but they’re gone by September.
Geese protection in Surfside Beach
Pesce was previously driven to move out of Surfside Beach due to hate and harassment directed toward her, as well as numerous citations from the town for violating their ordinance against feeding water fowl, which she no longer does, she said. But she moved back last year specifically to a home near where geese congregate so that she could protect them by safely escorting them across roadways to nearby retention ponds and lakes.
“That’s all I do,” Pesce said. “Keep them away from the hate.”
Susan Floyd, a part-time Surfside Beach resident and fellow goose advocate, told The Sun News she’s witnessed Pesce being harassed on an almost daily basis, but the vast majority of residents and tourists love the geese, and it’s really a small group complaining about them.
Floyd recently started an petition to “Stop the killing of Canada Geese in Surfside Beach,” claiming the town was hiring Goose Man Jack to kill the geese, and urging town officials to seek humane, alternative solutions. The petition had nearly 200 signatures as of Tuesday evening.
This story was originally published August 6, 2025 at 8:36 AM.
