An exploding population of Canada geese is fouling the lawns in a Gwinnett County neighborhood, and residents are complaining that state wildlife officials aren't doing anything about it.
Sue Briscoe told Channel 2 Action News that she has lived in her home near Maple and Poplar streets in Snellville since 1965, but it's been just the past three years that big black-and-white waterfowl have taken over. It's obvious: Their droppings are everywhere.
“Any given time, you’ll look out here and there will be a whole drove of them,” Briscoe said. “My grandchildren can’t even play out here in the yard, it’s such a mess.”
Briscoe’s son, Wayne Briscoe, said he contacted the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to ask them to come remove the geese. DNR said residents should first try other tactics.
“They said you can get a dog, [but] my mom doesn't want to get a dog [because] she travels,” he said. “They said we could drive wooden stakes … [or] maybe you could put firecrackers out and scare them off."
"They brought them in here and created this problem and are not willing to do anything about it," Briscoe said. He referred to the fact that beginning in the 1970s, the state released thousands of the birds at reservoirs and farm ponds. It was a response to an alarming decline at the time in migratory Canada geese, according to a Department of Natural Resources website.
The new geese quickly adapted and, unlike their migratory cousins, made themselves year-round residents of Georgia. The state’s resident Canada goose population today is estimated at 45,000. Much of the population growth is occurring in metro Atlanta.
“Like a lot of other wildlife species – deer, coyotes and even bears – geese are learning to thrive in and around human habitations,” said Don McGowan, wildlife biologist in DNR’s Social Circle office.
“Geese love freshly manicured lawns,” McGowan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a phone interview. “Lawns regularly cut and fertilized are perfect feeding grounds for them. Think about golf courses, local parks, people’s lawns. That’s why they’re so common in these urban and suburban areas. It’s an ideal habitat for them.”
Until now, the only population control strategy has been regulated hunting, “and, obviously, you can’t do a lot of that in urban and suburban environments,” he said.
Moreover, Canada geese are considered migratory game birds protected by federal regulations. The DNR points out that it is illegal for individuals to hunt, kill, sell, buy or own the birds except according to Georgia migratory bird regulations.
DNR urges residents to first try deterrents -- scare tactics, chemical repellents, squirting a water hose at the birds or, for those willing to spend the money, getting specially trained dogs to chase them away.
“There are options available, none of which are easy,” McGowan acknowledged. “All will take some time and effort.”
When everything else fails, individuals, homeowners associations or local governments can petition DNR for a nuisance control permit to allow trapping and relocation or even killing, “but usually that’s the last recourse. We want to try non-lethal means first,” McGowan said.
The rise in geese numbers coincides with a reported increase in coyote sightings.
One species might be helpful controlling the other, McGowan said.
“You hear a lot about coyotes in the news, but actually the flip side of coyotes in metro Atlanta is, they may control the goose population,” the wildlife biologist said, adding that research out of the Chicago area indicates coyotes “in certain instances may help control the goose population, by going after the eggs.”
Snellville resident Sylvester Jamison told Channel 2 he wishes the geese would just go away.
“It’s just the mess that they make. They’re just nasty,” Jamison said.
About the Author
