Vernon, B.C. is pursuing a lethal method of goose control to address the population of nuisance geese in some of the city’s most popular parks.
Earlier this month, the city put out a request for expression of interest to try to find a contractor to run a geese kill-to-scare program.
While the city has pursued a cull or kill-to-scare program in the past, it’s never actually implemented either lethal method of goose control before.
Many see the birds as a nuisance as their droppings can foul the water and land at public beaches and parks.
A consultants report, done for the city two years ago, said there are also concerns the birds can act aggressively with park users and that “aggressive territorial behaviour…prevents smaller, native waterfowl from nesting.”
The city already spends a considerable amount of money and effort trying to manage the geese: it’s part of an addling program to decrease the number of new goslings hatching, contracting someone to haze the birds away from beach areas daily during the spring and summer.
The city has done some habitat modification to discourage geese in certain areas. It also sweeps park grass for droppings multiple times a week and is using solar lights to make beaches less hospitable to the birds at night.
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City of Vernon manager of parks and public spaces Kendra Kryszak said the lights make it harder for the birds to sleep in the area and they end up moving along after a few nights.
“We have deterred a few geese that way,” Kryszak said.
However, now the city is looking to add a kill-to-scare program.
“When you do kill one on that beach they see the carcasses that are laying there and they are less likely to return to that area,” explained Kryszak.
The idea of using lethal means to control the geese remains controversial. The Animal Alliance of Canada is arguing it won’t be effective.
“Even if you are effective at scaring one group of geese away, another group can easily move in. As we know geese do move around quite a bit, especially in the Okanagan region,” said Jordan Reichert, west coast campaigner for The Animal Alliance of Canada.
“It’s just a temporary fix at best.”
The group is calling on Vernon to strengthen its non-lethal control methods instead.
“A kill-to-scare program is a waste of money and time and of life. There are humane habitat modification measures that would be far more effective,” said Reichert.
Still, the city is expressing confidence a kill-to-scare program would decrease the nuisance at least for a time.
If the city is able to find a contractor to do the work, it could start the kill-to-scare program later this year.
A kill-to-scare program typically involves killing a small number of birds in the hopes of frightening the rest from the area.
A consultant’s report, completed for the city in 2021, said a shotgun is typically used to kill no more than two birds a day and usually “the carcasses are left on site to act as deterrents for other geese.”
Currently, the city is not specifying the precise method of completing the kill-to-scare program. Instead, it is asking the prospective contractors to provide details of how they would provide the service.
As for the number of birds that would be killed, that’s part of the permitting process for the program.
“It’s actually the federal and provincial government that provides you with the number of geese that you are able to kill in those specific areas,” said Kryszak.
The kill-to-scare program has been approved by city council but still has to go through a permitting process before it could go ahead.
The city needs to name a contractor who is going to do the work to complete the application for the permit needed for a kill-to-scare program.
The city is also looking at allowing hunting at the city’s McKay Reservoir as a way to control the birds.
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