Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations nasty geese

By DONNA DE LA CRUZ, Associated Press Writer
Thu Aug 17, 4:52 PM ET



WASHINGTON - They tried border collies in Virginia. They tried a stuffed coyote in New Jersey. In fact, officials nationwide have tried just about everything to get rid of large flocks of Canada geese that move in, eat the grass and leave lots of unwanted poop.

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Until now, geese foes have had to obtain permits from the government to kill the geese or destroy their nests and eggs, and that hasn't been easy. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a new rule making it easier for farmers, airports, landowners and public health officials to kill the geese without permits.

The new rule went into effect last week.

Animal rights activists say there's got to be a better way to deal with the birds.

But people who consider the geese a nuisance are applauding the measure. Rep. Jim Saxton (news, bio, voting record), R-N.J., who has been working to control the geese population for years, said, "This day has been a long time in coming."

"Canada geese are larger and more aggressive than native waterfowl," Saxton said. "They have upset the natural ecology of our waterways."

The new rule includes several provisions, which now allow:

_Airports, public health officials and landowners to destroy nests and eggs without federal permits.

_Private and public airports to round up the birds for destruction without federal permits.

_Local governments to round up the birds if they threaten public health by congregating at reservoirs, athletic fields, parks and public beaches.

The new rule also allows states to establish August hunting seasons for the birds. The existing hunting season is Sept. 1 to March 10.

The Fish and Wildlife Service said the rule was prompted in response to "growing impacts from overabundant populations of resident Canada geese." The agency said in the Atlantic Flyway, the resident Canada goose population has increased an average of 2 percent per year over the past four years and was estimated at 1.15 million this past spring.

"This final rule offers the essential flexibility needed for effective natural resource management," Service Director Dale Hall said in a statement.

John Hadidian, urban wildlife program director for The Humane Society of the United States, said the Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to bring down the resident Canada goose population by 1 million birds.

"That means killing that many birds every year, for the next 10 years," Hadidian said. "That's appalling."

The Human Society says the reason so many would have to be killed to reduce the population is because on average, a goose will have five eggs at a time in a nest, which take about a month to incubate. And if a nest is destroyed, a female goose often will simply lay another group of eggs.

Hadidian said communities have resorted to various measures to get rid of the birds, ranging from sterilizing eggs or destroying nests to rounding up the birds when they are molting and unable to fly and taking them to commercial poultry houses where they are killed.

He said the new rule destroys any way for his organization and others to keep track of how the geese are being eliminated. The Humane Society favors measures that would create places where the birds can migrate to without being a nuisance to humans.

"They are very smart birds and they learn right away where they are and are not tolerated," Hadidian said.

The geese are attracted to mowed and fertilized grass, which is why they tend to gather at golf courses, airports and parks. Businesses or communities inundated by geese either call companies like National Goose Control in East Hanover, N.J., to help them gain permits so eggs and nests can be destroyed, or they resort to other measures.

In Saltville, Va., two border collies named Annie and Risk, were unleashed to run off the geese. That worked. In Fair Lawn, N.J., officials put a stuffed coyote on a float in a municipal pool hoping to scare off the geese. The coyote was snatched, and the geese stayed mum.

The goose grabber. From http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=002221#000005


ewest
ML :

Like George's goats those CG ( Bill's quote " flying toilets" ) can be very aggressive. They love new fall grass and will pick a area clean and leave piles for you to deal with. See the PB link from early this year on 20 geese = 1 cow.

http://www.pondboss.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=20;t=001634


Meadowlark

Brettski,

No offense taken, at all.

I understand full well what a fowl bird (water turkeys in my case) can do. The Canadas are very rare here and hence, their appearance is just a delight (but I also subscribe to the Ben Franklin addage that fish and visitors stink after three days ).
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Sunil

ML, how is the new propane cannon working?

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ewest

ML :

Don't stand near those birds when the cannon goes off. They will take off and make a deposit on you quicker than a bass strike.

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mr willy

This doesn't have much in common with the thread but is a funny story just the same. About fifteen years ago there was a guy who used to feed the Canadian geese at a lake in Rochester Minnesota. The city for the most part hated the birds, lots of crapping, getting in the way of cars etc.. A large flock living year round in this partially heated lake. Some people would park their cars by the lake and feed the birds bread, So after a spell the birds became very tame. A mother and her daughter were feeding the geese one day, when the little girl noticed that a goose that had gone under one of the parked trucks and did not come back out. She told her mother about the bird and the two of them watched a second goose disappear the same way. They explained this to a cop who was driving through the parking lot. When the officer went to investigate the four wheel drive truck, he noticed while talking to the driver, that a large hole had been cut out of the trucks passenger floor board and broken pieces of bread in the seat above. This guy was waving the bread through the hole, and when the poor goose would poke his head up into the truck, the enterprising hunter would grab the neck of the bird, spin it around a few times and throw them behind the seat. They found out later on that this old guy had been doing this for years. Maybe we could find this fella and send him ML's way.

We have them here from time to time but our watchdog really keeps them busy. They come flying in and see the corgi and figure it's not worth the trouble. She's 8 years old and seems to enjoy her work.

She's a Cardigan?

Theo,
She's a Pembroke; big heart with little legs.
Chip

Chip :

Beautiful pond and pond guardian.

Open season on Canada Geese starts on September 1st here in West Virginia. I believe it also starts in Virginia on that day too.

In addition to good navigation systems, the geese seem to have good built-in calendars. They'll be gone on August 31. I don't know where they go, but they sure become scarce. I don't think I know anybody who ever got their limit of 5 per day.

I have domestic ducks on my pond. I sometimes think they have kept the Canadas away. We've seen pairs land and walk around, but they never stay long. However, they raise families in ponds on neighboring farms.

Prepared properly, Canada Goose sure is tasty.

Good chasing,
Ken

ewest,
Thanks for the kind words about the pond and Sweety, that's short for Sweet and Low. Since she's getting older we've talked about getting her an apprentice. I've seen her bowl into a gaggle of 15 or 20 geese before and put them on the wing, it's a lot of fun to watch and she paws the ground like a bull after she dispatches them.
I wish I had her job,
Chip