The once called beautiful Canadian Geese is now nicknamed the monster in Canada

The once called beautiful Canadian Geese is now nicknamed the monster in Canada. They are now the most widespread species of its kind in North America. They are turning into a continent- wide problem, which are causing people to be frustrated. The increase in their population is causing drastic measures. Their droppings are contaminating the environment. They are destroying plants and crops, and causing disturbances in the neighborhood. If no possible solution can be found to solve this problem, it can be a disaster.

Canadian Geese were supposed to be an endangered species in the early 1900’s due to the hunting of geese by hunters. (Shilts) There were hardly any geese left in the late 1970’s until suddenly some were discovered again. Scientists were so overjoyed that they raised the geese in captivity and then let them go where they once lived. (Herbert) However this was a huge mistake.

Their population had increased over the years. Not by a few geese more each year but 11, 000 to 70,000 estimated which was a noticeable dramatic increase. When the geese population stopped migrating, they began to double every five years. As a result, from 70,000 geese at the beginning, it has now increased to 3.5 million and more. (Herbert) The geese population had increased over the years because of a steady and large food supply and safely protected from the hunters. Another reason was due to decrease in predator numbers. The predators such as coyotes, cougars and smaller predators in cities and suburbs didn’t usually attack Canada geese because of their large sizes. Secondly, hunting was also not allowed anymore in cities and suburbs so the geese could live for a long time and grow many healthy goslings. People also love feeding them and geese are not scared of humans anymore as they used to. (Herbert)

As their populations increases, problems start to occur. They are contaminating our water supply with their filthy slimy green droppings. One goose poops 5-9 times a day, and imagine 80,000 geese contaminating the water supply, it could get pretty gross. Other problem with increased population is that geese love short grass near water. If the grass runs out, they go tearing up other people’s lawns. Problems with the geese seem to get worse each year. The geese no longer fly in a V- formation, which is a sentimental symbol of the passing season. They now live as if they have adapted to life in our cities. They even forget how to migrate in winter. They have enjoyed their lives in the environment over the years, that they want to continue having a peaceful life, but would people allow it?

The answer is probably not. That’s what a lot of angry people are saying now. Farmers are mad at the geese for destroying their crops. Some countries have lost over 300,000 dollars in crops because of the Canada Geese. They eat all sorts of crops and in fact, they could wipe out a field in no time. (Herbert) People with nice lawns and yards definitely want the geese to move away. They pull grass out of the lawn leaving hideous holes on the ground, which do not please the homeowners. Angry drivers are not happy with geese causing traffic jams in the highways.

When drivers honk the geese, they just ignore the drivers and even honk them back. Annoyed walkers are not thrilled to have droppings stuck to their footwear whenever they take a walk. A large number of citizens are not pleased with the geese. There are a lot of them around the cities and suburbs. People can’t even have picnics without stepping on any geese droppings just like the joggers. School’s sport teams sometimes have to cancel games since the field is too messy. People who love going to beaches can’t go to them since the beaches are closed because of the droppings of the geese. (Herbert)

In fact, if humans do not cut the numbers of geese, our water will one day be too sickening for humans to drink. Geese are now posing a health threat because they can carry germs like salmonella and giardia. (Springston) However, they don’t pose as much threat as other wildlife animals. According to the rate for Canada geese, they are not measurable which means they aren’t really dangerous. Nevertheless, they do make water dirty, which will still be a huge problem to humans.

Lots of solutions are thought of to get rid of the geese without hurting them in any way. People try to make loud noises, spray the grass with some chemicals, and even make plastic owls to scare them. On the market, there are lots of deterrents to work against the geese. They make plastic alligators, chemicals, metallic, iridescent streamers and try to use swans. However, nothing lasted for long. Some thought of “shipping the geese off to a distant, remote the new home, clean up the dropping on the lawn and problem would be solved” (Bond). They even try to ship them elsewhere but it doesn’t work at all. So now a broad, long-term strategy is being developed. However, there will have to be many more polluted lawns before geese and humans settle into peaceful co-existence. (Bond)

Federal wildlife agencies, the companies who reintroduce Canada geese back to wildlife, want to trim the population which is 3.5 million and is still increasing by 1.16 million geese in the coming years. They will start at places where they allow permit lethal means, which means trapping, nest destruction and roundups. (Herbert) Some other companies want to increase hunting geese, which may be a solution but will need lots of money to do so. However, this creates lots of other problems because there are limits to killing geese. The geese are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty of 1916, which limits hunting seasons and the number of geese an individual hunter may kill. (Herbert)

Companies who are trying to prevent harming the geese are now trying to train dogs to chase them away. “In fact they are the hottest thing in goose management,” says an urban biologist John George. Using dogs to chase the geese away will be a good temporary solution. However it won’t work for long because geese are smart birds. They will eventually find a solution to not get scared just like humans try to find a solution to eliminate them. (Miller)

So after all, reintroducing geese back into the society may be a regret to a lot of people. Yet it is also the humans’ fault for not watching them closely and carefully enough. Their droppings are infecting the environment, and are destroying crops, and causing disturbances in the neighborhood. They are part of a human problem that has gone wrong but one day, a solution will overcome the geese problem, making both the geese and humans satisfied.