Handling Canada Geese In Wildlife Control Being A Protected Species Stephen Vantassel here wildlife control consultant giving you a little other update for the wildlife. I wanted to talk today. Well now that spring is getting closer to us. Want to talk a little bit about Canada geese Canada geese are becoming a large problem in many parts of the eastern U.S. But they are beginning to be an issue in some Western states and even in the Midwestern states as well by Midwest. They’re already an issue places like Ohio and Indiana. I’m referring to the true Midwest which would be in Nebraska incense states of the Central State Central Plains. Canada geese are federally protected A very large bird and they are federally protected. So what can be done with them is limited. Now you may think well they’re hunted. Yes that’s certainly true. But those are hunting regulations that occur during the hunting season. And so those numbers are established. But like a pigeon or a House special you just can’t go out and whack Canada Goose just because you feel like it. So it has to be done either during the hunting season which typically is not the time when many people are having trouble with Canada geese or you have to get a permit. But there are some strategies to handle Canada geese. But before we get too far into the weeds here one to give a little bit of background on some of their basic biology. First let’s talk about how they’re to be named. It’s Canada geese not Canadian geese I got rebuked on that from my one of my employers when I use the word Canadian geese. No no no it’s Canada geese and so that’s going to be important. Typically their scientific name is Branta canadensis. That’s B R T A N T A. Canada Geese The Giant Variety Dangers Branta canadensis there are various subspecies but most of us are going to be dealing with Canada geese like the giant variety. So they are a large bird. Typically when you get to the ones that we’re normally seeing around urban areas. black and white with grey course they have that white throat patch that is they’re famous for their very elegant bird but they are big 3 to 15 pounds and they can cause a great deal of challenges for people not. just because they’re they can be noisy their theses of course you know the phrase crap through a goose is not is obviously there for a reason because geese. Put out a lot of excrement. There is no doubt about it. So they’ll eat a lot of green grass and then they’ll leave you these Tootsie Roll sized droppings that come out in various places and they can be actually a slip hazard when they’re on various surfaces. And so people have fallen and slipped on that feces ever. Now there is a small concern about disease with those feces. I mean certainly people that are walking through heavily contaminated areas can have. They’ll get it on their shoes or what have you and that can be a potential problem. But the evidence for actual infections is low. There is some association of large numbers of Canada geese contaminating water particularly when reserve windier when they’re flocking over or floating in the areas of the reservoir where the where the water intake is that’s where it’s going out to be consumed by the public. So but the evidence is weak. You kind of think it makes sense that a lot of Canada geese on your grass and people walking through it and the...