MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Winter 2018

44 ML BLUE WINTER 2018 which contributed to increased reproduction, attracted more to an area, and conditioned those already there to lose their natural fear of humans. One of the big problems keeping geese in place was the annual molt (shedding of flight feathers and re-growing of new ones). Canada geese nest in early spring and have goslings by May. They stay in a nesting area to protect and raise their goslings, which cannot fly until August; meanwhile, the parents’ molt begins in June, and lasts six weeks, biologically “trapping” them with the goslings wherever they’ve nested. Unfortunately, this coincides with the start of outdoor activities for people and continues into summer vacation. To further conflate matters, Canada geese that still breed in the sub-Arctic migrate south to destinations where they mingle with year-round residents. And due to climate change, some migratory geese don’t travel as far south as they used to, benefitting from changes in weather, hunting patterns, and agricultural practices that leave more waste grain on the fields. Add this to the parkland areas mowed, irrigated and fertilized for maximum growth, and we’ve created five-star restaurants favourable to the remarkably adaptable goose. With accessible food and a lack of predators, urban areas bordering water are now permanently attractive to geese whose impacts include not only the nuisance of up to .70 kg/day of solid waste each, but habitat loss and degradation, abundant noise, aggressive behaviour (both territorial and food-related), and water quality issues that threaten wildlife and human health. In Whistler, B.C., where I live, in 2015 a daily average of 34 kg of goose poop was being removed from one lake park alone, and the beach was frequently closed due to both cercarial dermatitis (a.k.a. swimmer’s itch) and unsafe levels of coliform bacteria. Goose feces contain other bacteria like campylobacter and salmonella; viruses like avian flu; and microscopic parasites like cryptosporidium and giardia. Cryptosporidium in a water supply can cause serious disease: it was responsible for a 1993 outbreak in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in which 400,000 became ill and 100 died; a 1996 outbreak in Kelowna, B.C., sickened 10,000. That’s serious shit, so to speak. What to do? Federal, state, provincial and municipal agencies around North America are now taking measures to control resident geese populations. Although hunting migratory Canada geese is still prohibited in the U.S., hunting resident geese is allowed in many areas, and landowners can legally destroy nests and eggs. In Washington, this past summer, problematic resident geese were processed under government supervision as a food source for the homeless. In general, people are encouraged to help discourage geese from nesting, including altering landscaping to make an area less attractive, and using trained dogs, noisemakers and visual deterrents. Back in 1998, a geese infestation at Lake Barcroft outside Washington was pitting animal- rights activists against angry beachgoers. An engineer looking to balance things founded a group called GeesePeace that used a two-step approach—coating eggs from nesting geese with corn oil to prevent the entry of oxygen and halt development, and scaring the geese away from problematic areas before they molted. Some form of this combination is now used everywhere from seaside communities on the Eastern seaboard to the U.K. In Whistler, a municipal Goose Patrol now hazes geese from parks with specially trained dogs and, each night, winches waist-high, black-plastic fences across beach areas separating lakes from lawns, removing them in the morning. The fencing isn’t as much about physically keeping geese out as providing a visual deterrent when viewed from water level; if non-flying geese can’t see the grass from the water, the area isn’t attractive to them (note: this works great for a cottage or any lakeside residence with a lawn). In Ontario, a patchwork of approaches has led to some saying the province doesn’t have a goose problem so much as a bureaucracy problem. In general, municipalities enact short-term measures without seeking permanent solutions. Ottawa deploys drones to scare off geese. Other cities use trained dogs, lasers and pyrotechnics. Toronto, Mississauga, and Oakville ship geese off to rural areas; 10 percent fly home immediately. Most conservation and wildlife managers agree that pushing the birds from one town to another is a flawed strategy, but until such time as there is a cohesive, province-wide approach, Ontarians best get used to close encounters of the green, slimy kind. Various government and wildlife agencies around North America are now taking measures to control resident geese populations.