Winnipeg must learn to live with geese

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/05/2022 (1242 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They’re back! Canada geese have returned to Winnipeg, bringing with them the usual questions: why are they here? How can we get rid of them?

The geese residing in Winnipeg are not “wild” geese. Wild geese travel further north to nest. The geese returning to Winnipeg each year have learned that they are protected within the city’s limits. They’re known as “nuisance” geese. They’re used to human beings and human activities.

The problem with the proliferation of geese in Winnipeg will not be solved. Winnipeggers must learn how to live with the geese and understand their biology and the environmental pressures that require them to live in Winnipeg.

Canada geese are attracted to Winnipeg because the City of Winnipeg has created ideal conditions in which they can successfully nest. It began when the city adopted a policy of creating retention ponds around which high-priced homes could be built. Ponds surrounded by grass are ideal nesting areas for geese.

Most of the solutions proposed to get rid of Canada geese will not work.

1. You cannot poison the geese.

2. You cannot hunt them within city limits with a gun or with a bow and arrow.

3. Putting nets over the retention ponds will not work. It is not logistically feasible. It will ensnare geese trying to land on the pond. It will also create a public uproar, especially when some well-meaning individual tries to “save” an ensnared goose and gets entangled. In addition, it is not the water that the geese want, it is the grass surrounding the retention ponds. The geese can fly to another location to drink if they need water.

4. Sinking bales of straw in the retention ponds (tried once before by the city) will not work. It has no effect on the geese and only serves to pollute the pond and encourage the growth of algae.

5. Hazing, with dogs or by other means, just moves the problem to another area, and is only a short-term solution.

6. Planting unpalatable plant species around the edge of the ponds will not work. The home owners paying high taxes to live in houses surrounding the ponds will not stand for such a situation since it would lower the market value of their property. In addition, the unpalatable plant species will not prevent the geese from flying onto the pond. They do not have to walk into the pond.

7. Egg removal will not work for two reasons. One, it is against federal legislation unless federal permits are obtained. Egg removal will not work in Winnipeg now because the goose population is so large that the number of nests that one would have to visit is simply impractical. The second reason is that geese are territorial. If you remove their eggs, they can re-nest and lay another clutch of eggs. If a mated pair abandon a nest location, it will be taken over by another pair.

There are two potential solutions. One of them is imminently feasible and practical but will not likely be accepted by the public. It simply involves rounding up huge numbers of geese, slaughtering them in approved abattoirs overseen by federally approved veterinarians, and feeding them to poor people. It would take several years but, if done properly, the city would have a renewable resource that could be of benefit to individuals who cannot afford to buy meat.

The other potential solution is to addle the eggs. This procedure refers to an approved individual puncturing the eggs and destroying the developing embryo. By addling the eggs one allows a female goose to continue sitting on her eggs and it allows the male to continue guarding their territory, preventing another pair from taking over an abandoned territory. The eggs will not hatch, which prevents more goslings from being added to the existing population.

The bottom line is that you cannot get rid of all the nuisance geese in Winnipeg. The most important aspect of a goose’s life is to get its genes into the gene pool. It does that by producing offspring. Winnipeg has created an ideal environment for Canada geese to accomplish that aim.

James Shapiro is a former director of the Avian Behaviour Laboratory in the department of psychology at the University of Manitoba. He is currently a senior scholar in the psychology department at the U of M.