Canada Geese

[peckerridge]

I hope we can all remain friends even though there are probably as many different opinions as there are birders.
I love nature and it's workings. Non-native breeders such as non-migratory Canada Geese don't really fit in well,
and may possibly hurt native species. They certainly make a mess. I guess I feel about them like I do about
Norway Rats, feral cats, Starlings, etc. In any case I don't know what the law is.

Just one opinion, Barry Kinzie, Troutville

[Kent Davis]

I agree with Barry and I just talked with Mike Smith and he feels the same
way.

I bird the STP several times a week and the problem lies in the nasty mess
they leave.
It is my understanding that the USDA-Wildlife services came in to discuss
the increasing
problem with non-migratory Canadian Geese. There has been an explosion of
the population
the last couple of years. The population is beginning to cause damage and I
suspect that with the increasing
population that they are probably also reducing habitat/use of the site by
ducks and other species.
There are fewer nesting killdeer this year and I have noticed that the
nesting areas have changed and suspect that
it may be to avoid the geese nesting areas. A few Canadian Geese are OK by
me but there are just too many for an
area the size of the STP.

My 2 cents worth,

Kent Davis

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[Larry Hutson]

Another side of the story from a different part of the region. Five years or so ago Smith Mountain Lake had a very large population of non- migratory Canada geese. These were also residents and breeders. There were so many that the Smith Mountain Lake State Park swimming beach was once temporarily closed due to high bacteria counts thought to have been caused by the geese that frequented the swimming beach cove. It was thought by many that one and maybe the major reason these geese were here was because of the feeding of the geese and other waterfowl (mainly mallards) by both the human residents and visitors. It was also learned that there were several lake residents who had large scale feeding operations that attracted large numbers of waterfowl on a regular basis. The Smtih Mountain Lake Association, a volunteer organization involved in water quality issues, lobbied the three county governments on the lake to pass an ordnance to prohibit the feeding of waterfowl at the lake. Franklin County passed such an ordnance. The other two counties did not. It took some time but the situation on the lake that I live on, the Blackwater in Franklin County, has improved dramatically. There are still a few around but not the large numbers that used to be here. Personally I enjoy them now that they`re controlled. To hear the honking of a V-wing of them out over the lake on a chilly Fall evening is one of the great sounds of the lake.

 

Larry Hutson    
Union Hall