Goose cull at Silver Lake ruffles feathers

As a waterfowl community liaison who works with HOAs and residential developments all over the country, I can tell you that there is absolutely no reason to kill Canada geese when humane management works far far better to lower and limit populations.

Successful humane management of geese involves using several effective methods together for the best results. In almost every case where humane efforts were unsuccessful in limiting the problem, it is because only limited methods are used and not done correctly or done long enough. Landscape modification (probably the most important element), egg oiling, site aversion, and other methods are best bundled and used together for a successful program. There is a natural hybrid grass called FlightTurf that deters geese (and deer and Lyme disease, and doesn't even need mowing) because they don't like the taste and don't stay where it is planted. You should be aware that a spray product called Flight Control contains a suspected carcinogen.

Since the real objection to geese is their droppings, a tow and collect device that cleans up the feces (and can even compost them for fertilizer) is also a sensible solution. Your own maintenance people can probably rig up such a device, and they are also sold. Often, once established, much of this can be done by volunteers, making this less costly than the kill contracts that in reality solve nothing. Once the geese are killed, within a month, new ones will fly in to take their place and numbers will be right back up. It is a lesson in futility, cruelty and poor management.

Various diseases are unfairly blamed on the geese when the real cause is virtually always human-caused. Goose droppings (only about a pound from an adult goose) are relatively benign, as geese are not scavengers; they eat grass. It's actually the healthiest, best fertilizer there is. No one ever got sick from a goose; the human species would have been killed off years ago if this were true. DNA water testing can determine the real cause of water problems and certainly nothing should be killed without knowing the specific cause of any health problem. E. coli is often trotted out as a potential problem. You should be aware that E. coli is NOT CAUSED BY GEESE. In fact, extensive studies in the Great Lakes area determined that E. coli can form without a human OR animal host. When there is a living cause, it is usually from dog or humane waste. Most likely culprit is sewer issues, especially septic tanks which are supposed to be pumped every 3 years and most are not. Algae blooms and other water problems are also not caused by geese, but by farm or industrial run off.

If you have a community built around a water source, such as a lake, you are naturally going to have waterfowl. There are intelligent and effective ways to lower and stabilize this population, as well as community education to teach people how to co-exist with the nature that they claim to enjoy and yet persist in destroying.

There are humane animal organization that can help you with this, as many of them have worked with biologists and waterfowl experts on complete and detailed manuals on this issue.