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Landscaping and Canada Geese

Modifying the landscape can entice Canada geese to move on
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/30/06

BY SUSAN RUSSELL

In response to the Aug. 25 article "Canada geese blamed for swimming
bans at Shore lakes."

In nature, no creature, especially man, exists in a vacuum. Results
will follow cause.

Canada geese respond to injurious human landscaping practices and
government and private waterfowl restocking programs. The leading
federal researchers agree: The birds pose no human health threat.

The facts beg one question: When our actions, appetites or whims have
consequences for other species, how should we respond?

Landscaping.
Simple landscapes - mowed turf grass near water, open vistas - play
havoc with the Canada goose's migratory and nesting instincts.
Protective parents seek clear, line-of-sight vistas that allow for
ready identification of predators.

The local park/pond/playground combo and the home association's
manicured pond are neon vacancy signs for nesting geese. The
ecological hitch: These structurally simple landscapes are not
indigenous to the Northeast. Scientists say that nesting geese are an
ecological symptom, not the disease. Denuded of native vegetation and
wildlife, poorly landscaped parks are the biological equivalent of an
indoor swimming pool.

Experts advise that natural landscaping is the answer. "Geese, like
other waterfowl, are attracted to habitats that meet their basic
needs," notes Transport Canada. "Habitat modification is the best
overall approach to long-term bird control."

"Communities that no longer enjoy the company of geese need to
withdraw their invitation," writes the Delaware Riverkeeper. "Anger,
stone throwing, scare tactics, use of dogs and egg addling are
neither the right nor the most effective response. The most
effective, sustainable and cost beneficial way to force geese to move
on, to continue their migration, is to revegetate our stream banks
and shorelines."

Ecological restoration can reduce pesticide dependence, improve
immediate soil, air and water quality, promote a desired natural
aesthetic, and restore habitat for humans and wildlife.

Diagrammed habitat modification guides provide managers with
practical principles for landscape restoration. Limited restoration
improves and beautifies landscapes for many species, including
humans. Modification for geese means blocking vistas by strategic
placement of shrubs, grasses, wildflowers, gates, fences, natural
barriers and replanting banks.

Health.
In 1999, the National Wildlife Health Center studied 12 sites in
Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Virginia to determine if organisms
that may cause human disease are present in goose feces. The federal
researchers reported:

Low frequency of positive cultures indicate that risk to humans of
disease through contact with Canada geese feces appeared to be
minimal at the four sites in Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia
during the summer and early fall of 1999.

In May 2005, Kathryn Converse, lead author of the study, told The
Greenwich Time that health claims are unfounded: "My feeling is if
they want to remove the geese, they should be upfront, honest with
why they don't want them there. I personally have never seen an
article through a medical journal or the Centers for Disease Control
that linked an episode of human health to Canada geese."

The New Jersey Department of Health wrote, "A number of beach
closings, including several in New Jersey, have been attributed to
this cause (high fecal coliform counts attributed to Canada geese).
However, research on this subject (including some surveillance
conducted in New Jersey) has usually found very low levels of
pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella sp. in the feces of waterfowl
not exposed to human sewage effluent."

Goose farming.
Conflicts between ongoing federal breeding programs to support
shooting and suburban sprawl need to be addressed. Public or
private "waterfowl production areas" at wildlife refuges and shooting
preserves are a wellspring for greater numbers of geese seen locally
and statewide.

The upshot, as demonstrated from Maryland to New Jersey to Illinois,
is that farmed geese, raised as livestock, leave refuges, only to
arrive at parks, farms or golf courses where they are not wanted. And
where they are often killed as pests.

If appropriate landscape restoration is essential, education
fostering respect and appreciation for native wildlife is equally so.
Both begin to reconcile society's stated ecological concerns with our
actions, particularly in our own back yard. Most people already live
peaceably with Canada geese.

A true ecological ethic transcends farming wildlife for commercial
gunning, and means more than the self-interest of purchasing green
cleaning products. This is especially true on the heels of deer and
goose management debacles, for which deer and geese pay the highest
price.

Facts, not ignorance, should contribute to a wider understanding and
a fully informed response to wildlife buffeted by both management and
sprawl.

Susan Russell, Little Silver, was a lobbyist for New Jersey's laws
banning steel-jaw traps and the importation of wild, exotic birds for
the pet trade.

http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20060830/OPINION/608300343/1030

Recommended Resources:
Doncaster, D., Keller, J. Habitat Modification and Canada Geese:
Techniques for Mitigating Human & Goose Conflicts in Urban and
Suburban Environments. Funded by Canada Wildlife Services, City of
Mississauga, Animal Alliance of Canada, International Fund for Animal
Welfare, Humane Society of the United States, Animal Protection
Institute. Guide may be downloaded from animalallianceofcanada.org.

This professional quality guide is comprehensive, and presents
detailed landscaping principles for golf courses, corporate campuses,
parks and recreational facilities, marinas, housing projects with
storm water retention ponds, agricultural property and salt marsh
restoration sites. Features include diagrams, photographs, case
studies, and site-specific concept plans.

Posted on SHARE Yahoo group Sep. 12, 2006