GOOSE POPULATIONS AND EFFECTS
Across the Pacific Northwest, goose populations in general have been growing at a dramatic rate over the last few decades, leading to significant effects on local ecology. Overgrazing on ground cover by large groups of Canada and cackling geese can cause soil erosion which, when mixed with excessive amounts of goose droppings, potentially leads to poor water quality. Lack of ground cover vegetation, poor water quality and overcrowding by geese may affect surrounding species, causing a decline in biodiversity and overall ecosystem health. Due to the vast size of cackling goose flocks, and because resident Canada geese often stay in one area year-round, the decline can happen rapidly, and an integrated Goose Management Program is necessary to give more sensitive species a chance, bringing an ecosystem back into balance.
Humans benefit from humane goose management as well, and get to enjoy clean outdoor spaces that have a diversity of wildlife to watch and enjoy. This is our goal, and we want geese to have a place in all of this. Our management practices humanely disperse the geese into smaller groups that will have a less deleterious impact on local habitats, which is vital in preventing habitat degradation and disease transmission between geese and other animals. At Geese Guys, we contribute to efforts that encourage ecosystem health and resilience, and we strive to support healthier wildlife and human populations.
QUICK FACTS
Two species of geese are common to the Pacific Northwest: Canada geese and cackling geese.
Being very similar in appearance, Canada and cackling geese were considered to be the same species until 2004.
In 2013, the combined population of Canada and cackling geese along the Pacific Flyway reached 220,000 individuals.
The combined population of Canada and cackling geese along the Pacific Flyway has increased at a rate of 9% each year and is predicted to continue to rise.
MIGRATION
Cackling geese are known for their seasonal migrations. Most cackling geese have staging or resting areas where they join up with others each migration season.
REPRODUCTION
During the second year of their lives, Canada and cackling geese find a mate. They are monogamous, and most couples stay together all of their lives. If one dies, the other may find a new mate.
Geese generally return to the same nesting ground year after year and lay eggs with their mate. The female lays up to 12 eggs, with an average of five, and both parents protect the nest while the eggs incubate, although the female spends more time at the nest than the male.
The incubation period, in which the female incubates while the male remains nearby, lasts for 24–28 days after laying.
As soon as the goslings hatch, they are immediately capable of walking, swimming, and finding their own food.
Goslings will imprint on the area where they were hatched and raised, causing them to return there when they become mature enough to mate.
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH GOOSE DROPPINGS
Besides being a slip and fall hazard, goose droppings present a variety of problems to humans, wildlife, and local ecology on the whole. In large amounts, goose droppings can negatively affect water quality and lead to eutrophication, or an excessive richness of certain nutrients, in freshwater bodies. An overabundance of nutrients found in goose droppings can promote the excessive growth of algae and other aquatic plant life, which take oxygen from the water, potentially causing the death of fish and mollusks.
Furthermore, though the transmission of disease or parasites from geese to humans has not been well documented, geese have been proven to carry the following, which are known to infect humans and other animals:
Campylobacter - the CDC estimates Campylobacter is the #1 cause of bacterial diarrheal illness in the US.
Chlamydophila psittaci - can cause a disease called psittacosis which infects humans and birds.
Escherichia coli - some E. coli strains can cause diarrhea and illnesses outside of the intestinal tract.
Listeria monocytogenes - a bacteria that causes the infection listeriosis.
Salmonella enteric - a pathogen that causes human diseases ranging from mild gastroenteritis to severe systemic infections.
Giardia - a parasite that causes the diarrheal illness known as giardiasis.
Cryptosporidium - a parasite that causes the diarrheal disease cryptosporidiosis.