Now is the time to deal with relocating Canadian geese

With temperatures sizzling across our state, it’s hard to imagine the fall hunting season is just around the corner.

More than a gaggle of geese at your pond? If your favorite body of water is experiencing an overpopulation of geese, the time of the year for relocating the birds is now.

According to the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC), a population of large-bodied Canada geese existed historically throughout Oklahoma and much of the United States during the era of settlement and market hunting — these birds pretty well disappeared. A few small flocks were found in the mid-1960s and restoration efforts were undertaken in many states.

Oklahoma began re-introducing Canada geese in the 1980s, using trapand- transplant birds from other states, collecting and hatching eggs and maintaining a captive flock to hatch and raise goslings.

Since their re-introduction, Canada geese have been on a fairly steady increase — one study showing an average increase of 17.5 percent per year.

Despite subtle variations between the seasonal and year-round residents, the Canada geese appear fairly uniform.

All have black bills, legs and feet, with plump bodies covered with gray-brown to dark-brown feathers. They have long black necks and gray wings. A noticeable white patch on the throat and cheeks is their most distinctive feature.

Most of the resident Canada geese in Oklahoma are associated with urban or developed areas, primarily because nesting geese prefer areas where water bodies are bordered by short, open vegetation, which most parks and association ponds provide.

A while back, I spoke with Josh Richardson, Migratory Game Bird biologist with ODWC, and he gave some insight on geese and some relocation advice.

“ODWC doesn’t directly conduct any programs to address nuisance complaints regarding Canada geese,” Richardson said. “We provide information and technical assistance to landowners to help them deal with their specific problem. We have worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to make it as easy for people to respond to nuisance problems and support their program to provide an online process to permit landowners or managers to remove goose nests or eggs from their property.

Richardson also said that ODWC provides training to certify Nuisance Wildlife Control Operators (NWCOs) to conduct goose management activities, including nest and egg work as well as relocations.

“We are as liberal with our hunting seasons as is allowed by federal regulations (even though these birds are present year round they are in the same species as migrating Canada geese and the regulatory responsibility falls to the USFWS),” he said. “We have a 10-day season in mid-September to increase the harvest pressure on resident birds.”

The daily limit for this year is eight. In the past when I managed a state park, I possessed one of these nuisance wildlife operators licenses and I have participated in several goose round-ups.

Here is some of the advice the ODWC gives to most people:

• Don’t feed the birds, even if there is only a pair or two at the lake you are visiting or live by, and they look so pretty and act like they are so hungry. It is generally unhealthy for the birds. They become more accustomed to humans and more aggressive. Other birds begin showing up, either chicks that grew up there or just other birds that follow them in. They associate that location with easy food, and, when the scales tip and people decide there are too many birds, it is difficult to get them to disperse.

• Work on reducing nesting attempts or hatching rates. It is easiest to keep numbers in check when there aren’t new birds hatching and growing up. This is done either removing nests and/ or eggs or addling eggs — a process of sterilizing the egg while leaving it intact, a method that is actually recognized by the Humane Society which has a handbook for homeowners on it.

• Alter the landscape to make it less attractive to geese. This can be done a number of ways. Short fences, 18 to 24 inches tall, set a few feet back from the edge of the water can often keep geese from getting further up into a yard or park. Letting taller grasses — reaching heights of two to four feet — grow up around the edge of the water. This keeps the birds from seeing past the shoreline and often will keep the birds from getting out there for fear of predators that could ambush them. Create steeper bank lines. Canada geese prefer to wade up from the water. Shorelines with steep or cut banks force birds to jump or fly up to get out and feed, which is more work for the bird and also a potential area of ambush in their minds.

• Harass birds early and often. The longer birds get accustomed to a location, the more difficult it is to get them to leave. Also, don’t go out and harass them one day because you feel you have the time to spare. Leave the birds alone for a few days, then make it out again to harass them and think that you’ll have good results. Harassment should be consistent and thorough. If started early, it may take a few days, but birds will most often leave in search of more peaceful locations. If you let them get settled or don’t keep the pressure up, it could take more than a week to get birds to leave.

During this molting time of year, the opportunity exists to thin your gaggle of geese, but you must have a certified NWCO transport the geese to a new location or hire someone who holds this license.

The molting season begins the latter half of June and extends for six weeks into the first part of August. To reduce the population at your watering hole, the geese must be taken more than 150 miles — or they’ll be back.

John Kilgore is the former Greenleaf State Park manager. He can be reached by e-mailing him at jkilgoreoutdoors@yahoo.com.