MPR: Too many geese becoming a nuisance

Too many geese becoming a nuisance
By Dan Gunderson
Minnesota Public Radio
August 28, 2001

The honking of a flight of geese is a common sound across Minnesota - perhaps a bit too common. Later this fall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose options for reducing the population of Giant Canada Geese. A flock of the big birds can quickly denude a farm field, eating into many farmers' income. The birds are also a big nuisance in urban areas because of the mess they leave behind. Biologists say it's critical the population be reduced.

Chad Jetvig stands in one of his soybean fields, parts of which have been eaten to the ground by large numbers of Canada Geese. Jetvig estimates he could lose $40,000 in income this year due to the damage.
(MPR Photo/Dan Gunderson)

THIRTY YEARS AGO, THE GIANT CANADA GOOSE WAS ON THE VERGE verge of extinction. But the species has made a comeback that amazes biologists. There were just about enough for a gaggle when humans stepped in to help in the late 1960s. Now numbering in the millions, the goose is a wildlife management success story that won't stop.

"We've spent millions and millions of dollars to bring the population back. Now it's high and it's eating everything in sight, says farmer Chad Jetvig.

Standing on the edge of a waist-high soybean field on his Lake Park farm, Jetvig points to a slough about a quarter-mile away. It's obvious where geese feasted on tender young soybean plants early this summer, leaving large bare spots in the field. Jetvig says he's always accepted some crop loss from geese as part of farming among the prairie potholes of western Minnesota, but he says the damage is no longer acceptable.

"In the past two years in particular, it's been getting worse each year. We've started to see huge areas. Just on this one single farm, at 200 acres that's over $40,000 right out of our pocket. That's a lot of money," says Jetvig.

And hundreds of Minnesota farmers have similar stories. This year and last, Chad Jetvig has gotten a permit to shoot geese eating his crops, but he says it's an exercise in futility.

"We came out here and shot one time, and the next time you drive by they're gone. They'd even know the color of the pickup. If this one blue pickup we're using came around, they see that thing, whoosh, they're gone," he says.

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will release a draft Environmental Impact Statement this fall, with several proposals for controlling the Canada Geese population. Here are some of the options:

No action.

Non-lethal action. This could include things like trapping and relocating geese, or changing habitat management to discourage geese from nesting in specific areas.

Lethal control. This could include destruction of nests and eggs.

Depredation order for health and safety. This would be used to destroy or remove geese from populations centers where they may present a risk to human health and safety.

Conservation order. This would allow states to permit increased hunting of geese, such as special seasons or increased bag limits.

General depredation order. This would allow anyone to kill geese causing damage or posing a threat of any kind to human health and safety.
Source: Steve Wilds, regional chief of the Migratory Bird Section of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Only to return as soon as the coast is clear. Those keen survival instincts are one reason for the population explosion. There's also plentiful food provided by farmers like Chad Jetvig, and lots of wetland nesting sites.

It's estimated the Giant Canada Goose population in Minnesota alone is approaching 290,000. That's about 100,000 more than biologists, like Minnesota DNR goose expert Steve Maxson, think would be ideal.

"I think a lot of biologists are wondering just how high this population can go. It's already exceeded their wildest dreams, and it seems - even in the face of intense hunting pressure - to be increasing in most areas. I guess we just don't know how high this population can get," says Maxson.

Biologists rely on hunting to keep many wildlife populations in check, and the Canada goose harvest has steadily increased along with the population. But Maxson says simply allowing hunters to shoot more birds is not the answer, because the birds quickly learn how to avoid hunters.

Then there's the Eastern Prairie Goose that nests in northern Canada and migrate through Minnesota. Smaller than the Giant, the Eastern Prairie population is much more fragile, and biologists fear expanded hunting could destroy that species.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service draft environmental impact statement, due out this fall, will offer several population control alternatives. They range from no action, to targeted hunting in areas where geese are in conflict with humans, to destroying nests and eggs.

Steve Wilds, the chief of the service's regional Migratory Bird Division, says it's critical that a workable plan come out of this process. If not, he fears future management decisions will be political, not biological. Wilds says the future of the Giant Canada goose is at stake.

"So they'll continue to be recognized as a tremendous, beautiful part of our natural landscape - and not something that's going to be doing so much damage that people start thinking of them as vermin rather than really neat critters," he says.

Wilds says it will be at least a year before any final decision is made on how Canada Goose populations will be managed in the future.

More Information

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,Division of Migratory Bird Management
Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese
Minnesota DNR,Guide to Goose Problems

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