Nuisance Canada geese get killed, not moved, under new DNR guidelines

[marmar]

(Detroit Free Press) The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is adopting a new strategy this year for dealing with large populations of Canada geese conflicting with humans in urban areas: No longer will the birds be rounded up and taken to a state natural area. They will be killed instead.

This has some local wildlife protection advocates crying foul, saying much more can be done to fix goose-human conflicts before large-scale culling.

"They are going to be killing them all, and it's not fair," said Karen Stamper, who lives in Oakland County's Commerce Township, an area filled with small inland lakes that attract the geese. She volunteers with the nonprofit animal protection advocacy organization In Defense of Animals based in San Rafael, California. ..............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/03/14/nuisance-canada-geese-get-killed-not-moved-under-new-dnr-guidelines/82267671007/

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. I understand both sides, but it seems like another fowl blow against Canada

[Historic NY]

2. Maybe we could bus them home.

They as migratory birds they are a spreader of Bird flu especially the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain, through their droppings, saliva, and nasal secretions. They cover large swaths of ground where I live especially where other species congregate, near ponds, reservoirs, parks, ball fields, public space in developments and complexes. etc.



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[Cirsium]

3. Unbelievable

Blaming the wild birds for the problems caused by intensive agriculture and suburban development.

Most Canada Geese used to be migratory—those big vees of “honkers” that signal the change in seasons each year as they pass overhead. Though there are still several million migratory Canada Geese, for a period at the end of the nineteenth century they became scarce. (Overhunting, egg collecting, and development of wetlands were among the causes of the decline.) In the 1930s, efforts to restore their numbers led to government-sponsored releases of resident “giant” Canada Geese for hunting. Not long after, as lawns started to proliferate, many of these resident geese flocks began to thrive and expand their range. Though resident and migratory geese may mingle during winter, they retain separate breeding ranges and do not typically interbreed.

...

Resident Canada Geese have adjusted well to living near people, with few significant curbs on their numbers. Resident geese in cities and suburbs are safe from most predators, many people like to feed them, and they are less vulnerable to hunting because they tend to live in settled areas where firearm restrictions often apply. By contrast, migratory Canada Goose populations are held in check by migration mortality, predation, late winter storms, and hunting. Resident geese begin nesting at a younger age and produce larger clutches than migratory geese. It’s no wonder their numbers are rising so fast.

...

Canada Geese are one of the few bird species that can digest grass, so they do well on the large expanses of lawn in parks, backyards, golf courses, farm fields, and airports.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/canada-goose-resident-vs-migratory/

[hlthe2b]

4. For gawd's sakes, FIGHT THIS! H5N1 will kill enough of them-- and the rest... mate for life!

For the sake of any remaining humanity...!