Chris Daniels
11/4/11
Last year the town that I lived is was having a problem with local geese. These local geese stayed on the lake and at the golf course all year long and never migrated south. As many hunters and communities know local, non – migrating birds are becoming more and more common. These geese are sticking around longer and through the winter because the winters haven’t been as harsh as in previous years and the food sources in town are good enough for the birds to make it through the winter. Many people are becoming frustrated with the local birds not only are they a problem during the winter time but all throughout the year as well.
The big question is what do you do with these local birds? They are often a nuisance to the people they live near and make a mess of yards, parks, and golf courses. In my town they spent months trying to figure out what exactly to do with these birds. Multiple public meetings were held by the city to try and gauge the public’s response to the idea of removing the birds and also to gather ideas of ways to get rid of the birds. The city also worked with the WI DNR to try and find the best possible way to remove the local non - migrating birds from the area. The first technique they tried was to use specially trained dogs to get the birds to leave the area. This technique did not work and the geese continued to come back. They decided it was time to round up and kill the birds with the help of the DNR in order to remove them from the lake, golf courses, and parks. This was met with great opposition by many people in the community but the city continued with the plan anyway. In the end the city had roughly two hundred birds killed and their meet was donated to the food pantry.
I agree with their decision to have the birds killed, but was there another way to get rid of them? Should they have continued to use dogs for a longer period of time? I would like to know if there were other options you would have used to try and get rid of the birds from their year round homes. The local birds in this area are becoming greater in number. They know exactly where to be so they can have access to food and stay away from hunting pressure. This places unnecessary burden on landowners where geese are living. Could special hunting permits be issued in certain areas to allow hunters access to the birds in the city? My city isn’t the only one having issues with geese staying year round. Should there be a standard set forward by the WI DNR as to the procedure being removing local birds from problem areas? As this issue is growing across the country I would like to hear what you have to think on how to address the problem at hand.
Blog written by Chris Daniels, Planning Consultant for Ducks Unlimited.
4 comments:
I worked for the City of Green Bay’s Parking Department a few years ago and the city had a problem with gulls creating messes in the downtown area. Multiple times during the summer city workers would go on the roofs of buildings and shoot noise guns at the gulls. The guns sounded like screeching flares. The first couple times the gulls came back but after persistence the gulls finally left. I don’t know if the gulls ever came back after leaving.
Obviously gulls are different from geese but I think if the geese are a terrible problem, persistence must be used. Then again, these geese may just move to another trouble spot. Should time be invested in teaching them their migratory route again? Should the geese be moved to a park where they would be less of a problem? I don’t think the effort is worth it. There are enough geese that removing them was probably the best option. And the meat went to a good cause as well.
I agree with Justin, noise guns just move the geese/gulls/cranes. Good issue, good comments!
The noise guns sound like a great idea. I have never heard about their use before. When I was home a couple weeks ago the same spot that had the problem before again has many birds located there. Whether or not these birds stay for the long term is yet to be determined but I can see this issue coming up again in the future.
I agree with the decision to kill the birds. The meat served a good purpose, and really the total number of geese wasn't that much. Additionally, geese would be difficult to relocate, compared to something like a bear, because they can fly away and easily fly right back.
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