Dealing with problem geese

© Joseph Fuller | Dreamstime.com

By Michael Scott

A new statewide program that allows for the capture and euthanasia of Canada geese for qualified applicants has animal rights advocates questioning The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) while giving property owners additional routes for the removal of nuisance geese.

The new Canada goose program went into effect January 1 in Michigan, giving private landowners, both residential and commercial, expanded options to address goose nuisance issues – notably the ability to have Canada geese killed rather than relocated. Established as a one-year pilot program, it also establishes a permit process that would lead to some Canadian geese being killed by suffocation through the use of carbon dioxide.

The population of the once nearly extinct giant Canada goose has exploded over the past decade. According to an August 2024 memo released by the Michigan DNR, Canada goose population estimates in the state have peaked over 300,000 in recent years, well above the state’s intended population goal between 175,000 and 225,000.

The Michigan Water Stewardship Program, a grant-funded offshoot of the Michigan’s Groundwater/Freshwater fund, supported by fees on pesticides and fertilizers, estimated a statewide population of roughly 280,000 in February. The result has been a growing nuisance issue in areas around natural and manmade bodies of water throughout the state, including in Oakland County.

Statewide population is historically managed through a hunting season structure. While that remains true today, the ability of Canada geese to adapt to their surroundings, especially in urban and suburban areas, can lead to both health and nuisance issues.

“Managing human-goose conflicts in urban and suburban areas has become increasingly challenging because of municipal development and ordinances that limit hunting, reduced human tolerance of geese, and increased disease concerns,” the DNR’s August 2024 memo stated. That memo also introduced the details of the current Canada goose program.

In many ways efforts to protect Canada geese, particularly the state’s wildlife management programs, are partially responsible for its growing population, said Michigan DNR Acting Wildlife Specialist Kaitlyn Barnes.

But the inherent adaptability of Canada geese also plays a factor. That adaptability is primarily why the DNR’s round up and relocation program failed to stem population growth over the last few years. That program was designed to collect nuisance Canada geese and transport them to less populated areas in Michigan. It did not allow for any type of euthanasia, except in special circumstances.

The DNR uses a nest and egg destruction process and gassing the geese through American Veterinary Medical Association approved euthanasia methods, such as through carbon dioxide chambers, although Barnes said that method will be avoided when possible.

“Using a lethal approach should never be the first option,” Barnes said. “(The relocation effort) was something we did for many years, and it just wasn’t as effective in controlling the population.It did a great job of continuing to protect (Canada) geese. But it was also a very substantial and costly effort.”

Yet euthanasia should never be considered a viable options, said Commerce Township resident Karen Stamper, who volunteers with the nonprofit animal protection advocacy organization In Defense of Animals in California, Stamper said she believes that the DNR doesn’t have the manpower to properly manage a program that includes such drastic measures.

“I don’t understand why we go straight from relocation to killing them,” said Stamper.

She questions the DNR’s estimate of 300,000 Canada geese in the state. Her research, including the filing of “countless” FOIA requests, suggests that the DNR doesn’t have a reliable method of counting the state’s population.

“I’ve heard they fly a plane across the state over a week with two people with binoculars,” Stamper said. “I’ve heard they just double the number of (Canada) geese they can tell exist. I don’t trust what they’re saying.”

The DNR had been relocating around 10,000 geese a year from an average of 200 sites prior to 2022, Barnes said. But that effort slowed considerably in recent years. Canada geese can carry the highly pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and other strains of influenza. Although the personal threat of human health issues is low with HPAI, the fact that Canada geese can be carriers is considered a health concern. HPAI became prevalent Michigan in 2022, causing the DNR to cancel its round up and relocation efforts since those efforts could spread the virus to other parts of the state.

“Round up efforts after 2022 was only conducted in response to human health and safety situations,” Barnes said, which amounted to fewer than 10 sites. “We were running out of places to relocate geese, and it was no longer an effective solution to control their numbers,” she added.

Avian flu is highly contagious and spreads through the saliva, mucus, and feces of infected birds, said Jen Owen, associate professor and associate chair at Michigan State University’s Department of Fisheries and Wildlife. Owen agrees that direct infection of humans from Canadian geese is extremely rare, but Avian flu can spread in other ways.

Plus, Canadian geese that carry the Avian flu may not show many, if any, symptoms, Owen said. They can have tremors or show other serious physical signs of flu infection that often means the virus has spread to their brains, regularly leading to death. But many geese show no outward issues. There’s no danger to humans for stepping in goose droppings, but it can be hard to avoid in concentrated areas.

“Let’s face it, they poop everywhere,” Owen said with a laugh.

The volume of Canada geese feces might be the biggest reason for nuisance complaints, said Chris Compton, owner of Goose Busters. Compton’s Oakland county-based company was founded in 1997 to exclusively provide Canada geese nuisance services. He estimates the average Canada goose is responsible for as much as three to four pounds of feces daily.

Canada geese droppings are a type of nutrient, and like other nutrients, they can cause issues if they enter the water supply or water bodies. Alan Steinman, a researcher at the Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute at Grand Valley State University, says that bird manure typically contains around four percent nitrogen and one to two percent phosphorus, although he doesn’t have specific data for Canada geese.

Given the volume of Canada goose droppings, the nutrients could stimulate the growth of algal blooms that may or may not be toxic in nature. Algal blooms can form in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, ponds, bays and coastal waters. The toxins they produce can be harmful to human health and aquatic life, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

“We don’t know if nutrients coming out of goose manure are more harmful than any other type of nutrient or dropping but there could be an effect there,” Steinman said. “If we blame geese and their manure for (algal bloom) issues, it might be more because of the volume of their droppings rather than the level of nutrients they contain.Those (algal) blooms can also have an adverse effect on home values nearby.”

The formation of an algal bloom doesn’t insure that it is toxic in nature, and Steinman said that it is unclear to researchers why some of toxic and others aren’t.

That’s part of the issue that Stamper said she has, based on her research, the state has little data to support the ides that Canada geese are a health concern for humans.

“I just see (references to Avian flu) as an excuse to get rid of the Canada geese that people don’t want,” she said. “I don’t see the proof and the data. And believe me I’ve tried to find it.”

The Michigan Water Stewardship Program has published reports indicating that high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen are normally found within goose feces. The nutrients within their droppings, combined with other nutrients, can deplete oxygen for fish and other aquatic life, the stewardship program reported. Canada geese can also produce bacteria and parasites that can harm animals above ground.

Canada geese droppings can also contain pathogens like viruses and E.coli. To Stamper’s point, Steinman isn’t aware of scientific data that concludes how pathogenically harmful goose droppings may or may not be to humans or aquatic life. He downplays the health threat to animals, including dogs who might eat Canda goose droppings, but illnesses are possible, and dog owners should discourage their pets from eating the feces.

“Every (species) is different,” Steinman said. “For example, racoons have been shown to be a significant source of E. coli in water bodies from their own droppings.”

Algal blooms are a significant issue in Michigan lakes. Steinman said that decomposing algae sinks to the bottom of a water body, releasing nutrients and potent toxins into the water and surrounding ecosystem, which can kill other organisms that drink the water, Steinman said. The addition of nutrients, such as Canda geese droppings, could limit the availability of phosphorus, which can prevent excessive algae growth.

However, Steinman adds that there are multiple types of nutrients that could be feeding algal bloom growth. He believes that more studies are needed to help determine the direct impact of goose waste on water quality.

“We don’t have a great feel for what the impact is on goose (dropping) on phosphorus and the (growth) of these algal blooms,” Steinman said. “It causes a lot of uncertainty. But chances are it doesn’t help.”

Contrary to some assumptions, Steinman said he doesn’t believe goose droppings have an adverse impact on aquatic life in the lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. He said fine dropping particles that essentially function as dust could get into the air, but that natural air dilution would limit or eliminate any impact on humans, even around poultry barns.

“The state has done a good job helping poultry farmers in creating a clean, cage-free environment,” Steiman said. Canada geese are simply an issue because of their high population numbers more than anything. Other birds, such as mallards, don’t cause the same level of nuisance issues. “It’s a perception more than anything,” he said.

Securing a permit for the new Canada goose program involves multiple steps, according to Barnes of th DNR. First, interested applicants should connect with a wildlife biologist at a local Michigan DNR office to discuss their Canada goose nuisance issue. The department will review alternative options with residents that could minimize nuisance before euthanasia is considered.

Options include barrier fencing, the use of manmade scare devices such as predator decoys, letting one or more dogs run free to scare off the geese, and other habitat modifications. Stamper said many homeowners and commercial landowners either do not realize all the potential alternative options available that can temporary and consistently eliminate the nuisance issue with Canada geese.

For example, she’s learned that a co-worker has used a small laser pointer at the Canada geese in her yard to chase them away for a week or more at a time. When they’ve return, her neighbor has used the laser pointer effectively to rid her property of the geese for another week or more.

“I don’t know what to tell people who don’t want to take the time to find a deterrent without looking to (euthanize) these birds,” Stamper said. “People don’t want to wait more than a week or two to find out what works. There are options on there. You just need to do some research and figure out what works.”

Before receiving approval, a permit applicant must establish that Canada geese are causing a significant nuisance issue. Lakefront associations must have the approval of 70 percent of its members to qualify. Other public spaces such as parks require approval from the local municipal body, such as a city council or township board. Private property owners also must give approval for the Canada Goose Program to be carried out on their land.

Eligibility for the capture and euthanasia permits requires that an applicant would have received a permit and participated in Canada goose nest and egg destruction in the current year. In addition, a minimum of 100 birds are required to be at the site at the time of permit application, or a human health and safety situation must exist .

A recent beach or public water access closure as a result of E.coli qualifies as such a human health and safety example. Common human health and safety issues also include the nearby presence of people with compromised health or mobility issues, broad-scale, health-related concerns that can’t be prevented such as contamination in water treatment plans or fire suppression devices, or public parks that have a history of rounding up a minimum of 500 Canada geese since 2017.

The USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services’ Wildlife Servies team, (USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services) conducts the site visit to confirm it meets the criteria before approving capture and euthanasia under program guidelines. USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services carries out the work once the need for population control is confirmed.

A non-refundable fee of $200 is required for all applicants, or $100 for single-family residents. Once the application process is completed and a permit is issued, the applicants cover all costs associated with the goose roundup and culling if their permit is approved, which range from hundreds to thousands of dollars, Barnes said. Approved sites that meet the criteria for capture and euthanasia will require a cooperative service agreement with USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services to carry out the capture and euthanasia activities.

It’s unknown how long it may take the average applicant to find out if they qualify for the permit, given the program pilot’s status.

“The requirements are based on the type of ownership of the property,” Barnes said. “We’ll see how many applications we get. That will impact the length of time.”

USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services and Michigan DNR has modeled the Canada Goose Program after similar processes instituted by other states. Residents may hire private companies and contractors to address aggressive geese on a case-by-case basis, however they will not be permitted to conduct capture and euthanasia.

The pilot program includes a limited number of sites permitted for capture and euthanasia to assess costs, logistics, landowner interest, and capacity, Barnes said. Her expectation is that a permanent program would be in place for 2026.

Yet a permit approval doesn’t guarantee that capture and euthanasia will occur this year, depending on capacity and departmental funding, Barnes said. Given this is a pilot program, there are many uncertainties surrounding program demand, and the time needed to execute it. Additionally, the uncertainty of the federal funding of many environmental programs under the administration of President Donald Trump could limit the number of permits that are completed, now or in the future.

“There may be some applications that have a higher priority because of the human health threat based on) the volume of geese on the property,” Barnes said. “We’re going to have to see how this all works out. The goal of the program is not to get rid of the geese in their entirety. But there’s a certain level of tolerance that is (built in) to this process, especially for lake residents.”

While nuisance and public health concerns are among the frequently referenced challenges posed by Canada geese, they can cause safety issues as well. The state has allowed nest and egg destruction activities to be conducted at airports over the years. Airports often face Canada geese overcrowding because their environments allow the specific thrive, Owen said. Airports offer open water sources, plentiful grassy strips and are absent of any natural predators to Canada geese.

A flock of Canada geese can be a hazard on the ground or in the air for departing or arriving planes. In fact, the highly publicized landing of U.S. Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in New York City in January 2009 was necessitated because a flock of Canada geese took out both engines just after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport.

“They are hard to get rid of if you don’t take active steps (to control the population),” Owen says. “They go where they want to go and aren’t bothered by the noise or (activity of airplanes). It’s really the perfect environment for them.”

Airports have been utilizing an egg and nest destruction system as a result , which Owen calls an effective process for controlling the geese population in a localized area. The new Canada geese program also allows egg and nest destruction as an option for permit holders.

“The tricky part can be both locating the eggs and then getting to them without being aggressively pursued by their mother, Owen said.

One additional benefit of the egg and nest destruction option is that it allows the geese to molt migrate. The process of molting happens for Canada geese in the summer when they shed all their flight feathers for new ones to grow in. During the molting period, the geese are unable to fly. Their new flight feathers generally take about a month to grow back, which often occurs around early August.

Stamper, as an opponent of the new program, said she believes the process of securing a permit can be manipulated because DNR should have stricter regulations approving applicant petitions for new program permits. She contends that email communications do not provide the level of certainty of a homeowner’s approval for the euthanasia of birds through the new program.

“These (homeowners association) boards should have to go door to door and collect the signatures. If they believe that what they are doing is so great, then they should have to face their neighbors and get their signatures, instead of taking the sneaky, cowardly way through email,” Stamper said. She contends the DNR does not verify petition signatures or confirm that a 70 percent threshold is met.

Stamper said that Commerce Township offered to verify signatures from its residents applying for a Canada goose program permit, but that the DNR denied its request.

“If they do not have the manpower, they should not be giving out permits to gas the geese or (other birds),” Stamper said.

It’s not the responsibility of the DNR to validate petition signatures, according to Barnes, who said she believes it is the responsibility of the petitioner or applicant to clearly state what they are petitioning to do, and to collect valid signatures.

“If it were brought to our attention that a petition was not valid, of course we would address that prior to issuing a permit,” she said.

Applicants who make a false statement on the application or permit form or fail to comply with the provisions of their permit is in violation of state law. Penalties could include revocation of their permit, denial of future permits, and criminal penalties, Barnes added.

While the Canada Goose Program essentially removes birds from specific locations, it is not designed to control the Canada goose population at large, she added. Barnes stressed that the purpose of the pilot program is to provide residents and businesses with more options to limit possible human health and safety conditions.

Michigan has generally created a hunting policy that is the least restrictive allowed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That policy covers bag limits, which references the number of Canada geese that a licensed hunter is allowed to kill in one day during approved seasons in Michigan.

“That’s the tool we want to lean on to help control the (Canada) geese population,” Barnes said. “We want our hunters to help control the population where local ordinances allow. The intent of the capture and euthanasia program is really to help deal with nuisance geese in areas where hunting is not an option,” she added. “This is most common in heavily populated or commercialized areas.”

The state has three different hunting management zones for northern, central and southern counties. The hunting season for each zone can vary but generally allows for the hunting of Canada geese for much of September through December. The southern region may include a few shorter seasons between Christmas and early January and in late January and early February as well, Barnes said. As the population of Canada geese has increased, hunter bag limits have recently been as high as five per day during approved seasons.

The Michigan DNR though still must follow guidelines from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. That framework can vary from year to year. “We can’t allow (higher bag limits) than what the federal framework calls for,” Barnes said.

The goal is for the capture and euthanasia operational program to be in place for 2026, she added. “We have modeled the program after successful programs in other states, but there is the possibility that changes to the program could occur depending on what we learn this year. I don’t have any anticipated changes in mind, but we are hoping to use the pilot year to gauge and assess costs, logistics, landowner interest, and capacity.”

In terms of the state’s current program, the gassing of Canada geese is a process Stamper calls “inhumane” saying that she has watched videos of geese being killed in this manner. She doesn’t like the process of egg and nest destruction either, but adds it is preferable since it doesn’t kill living geese.

Even the old capture and relocation program had an adverse impact on the geese, Stamper said. Not only were they moved to an area where they are more likely to be killed by hunters, but the process separates geese families, causing them stress. Stamper said her research has indicated that trying to alter the flocks of migratory birds like Canada geese can harm their migratory patterns.

“These geese mate for life. Plus, they are a native bird,” Stamper said. “Why would we want to mess with that?”

Prior to ending relocation of Canada geese in 2022 due to HPAI, the DNR conducted round up and relocation at an average of 30-40 lakes per year in Oakland County. In recent years, the department issued roughly 100 nest and egg destruction permits on lakes in Oakland County, Barnes said.

Besides airports, the environment in southeastern Michigan is ideal for Canada geese because of the abundance of water and temperate conditions, Owen said. Humans also create ideal environments by creating residential or commercial water features and maintaining finely manicured grass. Geese are attracted to unfrozen bodies of water and exposed grasses, two requirements for their easy feeding. They especially thrive in many suburban areas near water, such as golf courses and beaches.

As climate change has evolved, states like Michigan and Ohio in the upper Midwest provide the type of temperate environment with less snow cover that appeal to the species, Owen said. Less snow cover in the winter has allowed Canada geese to find food over a larger part of the calendar year. So, while Canada geese generally start to appear in the late winter and early spring after the ice melts, many may not fly further south than Indiana or Ohio each winter.

Additionally, Canada geese have few natural predators outside of coyotes to help control the population naturally, Owen said. Although their meat can be consumed by humans, they aren’t a common food source.

Most subspecies of Canada geese are migratory, taking a similar flight path if heading south for the winter. However, some remain in, or very close to their preferred summer destination in Michigan year-round, Owen said. These Canada geese are larger and can better handle the cold weather months, especially as data indicates winters are warming, she added. Some experts refer to them as resident geese.

The fact that resident Canada geese stay in or very close to Michigan has evolved over the years as well. “As (earth) has gotten warmer, and thus our winters warmer, and the (Canada) geese population has grown, we get more resident (birds),” Owen said. “There are different subspecies of geese that have slight differences including whether they migrate.

“They do well in this area,” Owen added. “There aren’t many threats that they need to worry about. (Mothers) are very protective of their children if the they sense any potential threat which can help.”

That level of protection can turn aggressive at times, against other animals and humans, Owen said, a fact many residents who have come across Canada geese may well know. While Canada geese rarely attack humans or harm them physically, their aggressive nature can cause distress to people not expecting it.

However, Canada geese generally aren’t aggressive toward humans unless mothers feel their babies or a nest is threatened, said Chris Compton, owner of Goose Busters.

Canada geese won’t actively attack humans but may threaten them verbally and through bodily actions. If they sense extreme danger, Canada geese will fly away, or mothers will gather their young children who are unable to fly and find the neatest body of water for safety, Compton said.

Even if they aren’t threatened, Canada geese are smart. The state’s longstanding policy of relocation also failed because after relocation or getting scared away, they frequently return to the exact same location where they were removed from in the first place, Owen said.

“(Canadian geese) naturally have an incredible sense of direction and knowing how to get back to somewhere they’ve been,” Barnes said. “You could relocate them to a new location in another part of the state and they would be just as likely to return.”

Compton agreed but said that Canada geese often return to the specific location where they fledged or first learned to fly. That is even more common than the geese returning to the place where they were born, he added.

“We’ll scare them away for clients and a few days later they might just come back unless you put other (strategies) in place like barrier fencing,” Compton said. They’re very aware of where they’ve been and feel comfortable in those areas.”

Goose Busters is one of the firms that the DNR used to support its Canada geese round up and relocation needs before 2025, and Compton said his company handled a majority of those statewide needs. Most of his client requests today involve populations of Canada geese that range from 10 to 30. Goose Busters is not involved in any euthanasia activities allowed by the state’s pilot program.

Compton often uses border collies to help scatter the Canada geese naturally for the clients he does have. He estimates that Goose Busters may visit 300 locations daily during “peak Canada geese” season in the summer to help manage a population issue. Perhaps 65 percent of his business is from commercial clients.

Despite the overpopulation of Canada geese, killing or even physically harming them remains a federal offense based on mandates laid out in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 2023, Barnes said. Anyone found guilty of such an offense could be prosecuted at the federal level, but the extent of penalties is largely up to the arresting officer(s) and the court that would hand down a penalty. The DNR does not have any arresting powers, so local law enforcement agencies are responsible for reporting a crime.

Short of imprisonment, penalties for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and a corresponding Class B misdemeanor include a fine of up to $15,000, a maximum of six months jail time, or both, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Compton believes that the extensive process required by the DNR for capture and euthanasia of Canada geese could cause some residents to take matters into their own hands, despite the potential for prosecution, resulting in safety hazards. Federal law also prevents humans from touching or harming Canada geese physically unless special approval is granted. Other birds such as sand hill cranes, ducks and swans are also protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

“(The high population) is a problem and you just wonder how much it will affect people’s decisions on how to handle it,” Compton said. “We wouldn’t be so busy if they weren’t an issue,” Compton said. “You just hope people make smart decisions and let the experts handle it.”