PASCACK VALLEY—Bergen County Commissioners were expected on July 20 to approve an ordinance preventing the use of a deadly method of controlling the Canada goose population. The technique is rarely, if ever, used in Bergen County, and animal rights activists are backing the county’s action.
Ordinance, 22-10, introduced 7-0 on June 6, bars Bergen County from engaging in any contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or any other entity, to implement a control method that includes the removal and killing of adult geese.
Carol Tyler, an animal control officer with Tyco Animal Control, which covers 24 towns in Bergen and Passaic counties, including in Emerson, Hillsdale, Montvale, and the Township of Washington, said geese have been slowly decreasing in number thanks to population control techniques that do not involve removal and euthanization.
Tyler said her company never uses removal and euthanization of geese. She said few towns use the method, since although it has short-term benefit the geese often rebound.
(See also ‘Geese harassment’ tacks $4,000 to animal control contract,” Pascack Press, April 5, 2022.)
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) notes Canada geese are among the most readily recognized and observable birds in New Jersey and can live 20–25 years in the wild.
Canada geese are migratory game birds that are afforded federal and state protection. Goose populations are managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife (NJDFW) pursuant to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, federal regulations, state statutes, the NJ Game Code, and other federal and state laws, regulations, policies, and court rulings.
“Procedures, such as handling nests and eggs, capturing and relocating birds, capturing and euthanizing birds, shooting birds to reduce damage, and any other activity that includes handling birds, their parts, and/or their nests and eggs requires compliance with these laws. A permit is generally required to conduct any of these activities,” APHIS adds.
APHIS says there are two behaviorally distinct types of Canada goose populations in New Jersey: resident and migratory. “Although they may appear similar, they exhibit many different behaviors that affect the management of these birds. Typically resident geese are those that nest south of the Canadian border. Migratory geese nest north of the Canadian border, migrating south beginning in October and return back to Canada by March to begin nesting.”
Resident Canada geese of New Jersey, in contrast, are those that nest in the Garden State. “In the winter, resident geese may move south during cold weather. Additionally, resident geese from states further north may move into
New Jersey at these times. Resident geese are found throughout the state year-round,” according to the NJDFW.
Under a section on damage, APHIS says, “The majority of Canada goose damage complaints in New Jersey involve accumulations of feces on lawns and walkways at homes, schools, hospitals, corporate campuses, and public parks.”
The agency says “Goose feces damage property, compromise overall quality of life, and have the potential to pose serious health threats due to the presence of disease-causing organisms.”
It says other damage associated with geese includes “overgrazing of lawns and recreational fields, and goose aggression and human injury during the nesting season.”
The new county ordinance notes for many years the county has used various methods to reduce human health and safety risks related to Canada goose overpopulation.
These included a no-feeding ordinance, the use of border collies to chase the geese, pyrotechnics that create noise to relocate the geese, habitat management, and dog cutouts and theatrical prop dogs.
A review of recent geese-related reportage revealed that the Greenwood Lake homeowner association — the lake straddles the New York–New Jersey border — was using the method to control waterfowl populations in recent years, though it appeared the practice was now no longer in use.
Tyler said in towns she works for, including Montvale, her service provides regular geese “harassment” by using dogs and/or disturbing noises to get the geese to leave certain areas to prevent them from becoming too comfortable with local green spaces and ponds.
She said that generally Tyco uses dogs specially trained to chase after the geese — which are a federally protected species — but not hurt them to scare the geese off large recreational fields and green spaces.
Also, she said occasionally they mix in loud noises where appropriate to scare off the geese. She said often the geese on certain fields will take off into the air before their dogs even begin to chase them.
She said by making the geese fearful of the dogs and loud noise, the geese will not become so-called resident geese, and become comfortable with their surroundings and wish to return there to give birth and raise goslings.
She said the humane way to limit flock growth and stabilize goose populations is to keep eggs from hatching, a process known as addling. This can be done by treating eggs with corn oil or by removing the eggs from the nest, which is humane “if done at the earliest stages of development,” according to the Humane Society of the United States website.
Tyler said egg addling often requires “detective work” to find the nests and a coordinated plan to addle the eggs, which may be laid from late March to early May. Each laying goose produces an annual clutch of 8–12 eggs.
Tyler said that geese face predation from humans and coyotes. Domesticated dogs might kill geese wandering into their territory.
At the June 6 commissioners meeting, Doreen Frega of Saddle Brook and a member of the Animal Protection League of New Jersey, said her organization had reached out to 137 communities to provide the latest non-lethal methods to reduce geese overpopulation. She said 29 communities had canceled their USDA contracts that allowed removal and killing of geese. She was pleased that commissioners moved to outlaw the practice.
It was unclear how frequently, or how recently, any county employees or contractors had used the lethal practice.
She said non-lethal methods “work and provide real solutions when conflicts arise.”
The county policy includes egg-addling as a control method, with the ordinance noting the method of addling is one of several approved methods of direct control approved by the USDA and various animal-rights advocates and agencies such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the Humane Society.
It notes that egg-addling is “the primary geese control method … which limits the process of hatching and lowers the number of geese who return to their place of birth each year.”
The ordinance directs the county Parks Department “to continue to seek alternative methods that are humane to help reduce the overpopulation of geese throughout the entire county…including repellents, barriers, decoys, sound deterrents, OVO (birth) control, (making eggs infertile) and other methods.”