City of Powell River needs to look at a cull to solve its growing Canada goose problem, says mayor Dave Formosa.
As the city’s goose population continues to rise each year, so too has the number of complaints coming in over the state of local parks and playing fields, said Formosa at council’s committee of the whole meeting on Tuesday, February 28.
“I just drove by the old Max Cameron [Secondary School] and the field was full of the birds,” said Formosa.
City parks, recreation and culture director Ray Boogaards told the committee that staff estimate the resident, non-migratory population of the birds in Powell River to be more than 250.
The issue of dealing with the geese came up at the meeting after Egmont Street resident Kim Dixon sent a letter to council asking it to take action to solve the problem. Dixon lives across the road from the city’s field located next to French school École Côte-du-Soleil.
“Geese have completely taken over the field,” the letter states. “You literally cannot take one step without stepping in goose droppings.”
Dixon stated that her children and others in the community use the field for team sports and not enough is being done to address its “disgusting” state.
She also stated that given the potential health impact on young children, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems coming into contact with bacteria and parasites associated with the droppings, more should be done to protect public health.
Following the example of Vancouver Island community Parksville, Formosa said he supported the idea of culling the geese.
“We just need to deal with this problem,” he said, “and given the health issues, we should be able to get permission to cull them down as far as we can.”
Councillor Jim Palm said he supported the mayor’s culling suggestion.
“No matter what grass area you go to in our community at the moment, whether it is a playing field or the boulevard in front of the hospital, it is covered,” said Palm. “We have a real problem and it’s way worse than in the past.”
Last summer, with permits from federal and provincial governments, Parksville went ahead with a cull of close to 500 birds.
Responding to Dixon’s letter, Boogaards said the parks department has tried several different approaches over the years to deal with the nuisance birds, including using specialized lawn-maintenance equipment to clean the fields.
“We are sympathetic to the residents and we have done a lot and we continue to look into this,” Boogaards told the committee. He added that the city installed flashing lights, designed to disrupt and disperse the geese, this winter on the playing field at the French school. A recent count indicated slightly fewer birds were present, he said.
Past management strategies have included the use of bear bangers and other loud noises, but now the city is looking at letting people bring larger-breed dogs off leash to city parks to harass the birds.
Boogaards said the city will have to amend its animal control bylaws before that would be permitted. He added that the city has also done some tree pruning to encourage eagles and hawks to nest in parks and continues to encourage local hunters to help reduce the population.
City chief administrative officer Mac Fraser said council would benefit from a report on how effective a cull may or may not be in solving the problem. That report is expected to be presented to a committee meeting next month.
