While the city of Guelph tries to make progress on dealing with the influx of geese it sees every spring and summer, the Humane Society is offering up tips on coexisting with the pesky waterfowl.
And when it comes to man versus goose, the message from the experts comes down to two words: patience and tolerance.
Veit added that this process could take as long as a month, but her office is already receiving calls about hatched eggs.
“They incubate their eggs for about 25 days, so once they lay their last egg, they’ll start incubating and it’ll take just under a month for them to leave the nest,” Veit explained.
Due to geese being protected under the Migratory Bird Convention Act, Veit said it’s actually illegal to harass them or harm their nest, which makes it difficult for animal control officers to do anything about a nest on a private property.
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She recommended that people steer clear of the nests and that businesses put up signs and barriers around them as well until the family moves on.
Geese and the mess they leave behind have increasingly become an issue in Guelph over the last few years.
Dave Beaton, with the city’s parks operation and forestry department, said staff have requested additional funding to deal with the problem, but the request been shot down at least twice over the past three years.
A request for $50,000 in funding was also denied in 2015.
Instead, Beaton said moving forward the city is working with their partners, including the 2RiversFestival, which will host a community discussion about living with urban geese on May 24.
The forum will feature Chris Sharp, who is a biologist with the Canadian Wildlife Service.
“Chris will bring the state of the science and success stories from other municipalities, and be an honest broker who can hopefully bring together people with differing views on the topic,” Beaton said. He added that Sharp will meet with city staff to discuss successful examples from other municipalities.
Beaton said other initiatives for 2018 will involve the increased promotion of a new bylaw that prohibits the feeding of wildlife.
Staff will also continue its sanitation work in parks, specifically Riverside Park, John Galt Park, Royal City Park, along with areas near the Boathouse and Riverrun Centre.
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