City of Edmonton crews return to Canada Goose patrol
A permit is necessary to move Canada Goose, a protected species
If you haven't heard the news, you've probably stepped in it.
Canada Geese are landing back in Edmonton in force, and city workers are already struggling to keep up.
Each year, thousands of the birds descend on the city's parks and golf courses in search of the best, freshest green grass — leaving behind damaged lawns and droppings.
"The fecal matter is a huge problem," acknowledges Roger Symon with the city's goose management problem on Monday.
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Each year, the city applies to the province and to Ottawa for permits to corral the geese — which as migratory birds are a protected species — and transport them out of the city.
"The city, we do a roundup program in late May, early June," Symon says. "There's a certain period where geese cannot fly and we round up as many of the young and the adults as we can. We put them in a trailer and we move them out to a lake area outside the city … and release them there."
The solution works well for the young geese, but the problem, says Symon, is that many of the adult geese then come right back to Edmonton.
In an effort to get to the root of the problem, crews also visit Edmonton's two biggest parks — Hermitage and Hawrelak — in search of nests. Each park has about 300 nests, Symon says, and each nest has about seven eggs.
When found, workers apply a mineral oil to the surface of the eggs to prevent them from hatching.
But even that is not as effective as Symon would like.
"The numbers really don't reduce because you get new geese coming in every year."
Edmonton not alone, says wildlife expert
Edmonton is not alone in the goose problem, says Dave Duncan, a population section manager with Environment Canada.
Duncan says the goose population started growing rapidly about 40 years ago, inadvertently helped along by wildlife officials who introduced the geese to new areas.
He estimates the Canada Goose population in Canada has increased up to sixfold since then, helped along by their quick adaptation to urban environments, where they are safe from hunting and there are fewer predators.
And then there's the grass.
"Geese like to feed on not old grass that's gone to seed and is tall, but nutritious grass," says Duncan. "So we've got these beautiful lawns and geese like eating the young fresh shoots that come out, so we're providing wonderful habitats for them in cities."
For the fed-up homeowner, options to deal with the birds are limited.
Unlike permitted city workers, citizens are not allowed to kill or move geese, goslings or eggs, says Duncan.
If the geese are causing property damage or posing a danger, you are allowed to chase or scare them away — as long as you are not using a gun or drone to do so.
Dogs and remote control cars can be used, however, says Duncan.
On average, Canada Geese live between 10 and 20 years.