Fed up with geese, Michigan abandons relocation efforts. Next up: killing them

• Michigan’s Canada goose population is creating a nuisance in some communities
• Starting next year, Michigan will start issuing permits to kill nuisance geese 
• The new policy replaces a goose relocation effort that state officials say was ineffective and risked spreading bird flu

Michigan’s booming Canada goose population is both a conservation success and daily annoyance: They poop everywhere, drop feathers, chase pedestrians and occasionally cause E. coli outbreaks in popular lakes.

Starting next year, some landowners will be able to respond with lethal force. 

On Thursday, Michigan regulators unveiled a new policy to allow some lake associations, golf courses, municipalities and other goose-aggrieved parties to hire federal crews to round up and kill the birds.

The policy replaces a longstanding nuisance goose relocation program that state officials say is ineffective. Populations have soared from near-extinction in the 1960s to 281,000 in Michigan, well above the state’s population target of 225,000. 

The problem isn’t numbers, but where the birds tend to congregate: near waterfront lawns and parks in cities and suburbs, said ​​Barbara Avers, waterfowl and wetland specialist for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

“They’re extremely adaptable animals,” said Avers. Humans have created “just the perfect habitat for them,” she added.

Related:

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• Wash your hands: Highly contagious bird flu reaches Michigan wild flocks
• Canada geese are as annoying as hell. In Alpena, that’s a death sentence

Michigan already has the most liberal goose hunting regulations allowed by federal law, with a 107-day fall season that allows recreational hunters to shoot up to five geese daily.

But when geese congregate in heavily-developed areas, they’re near-impossible to hunt safely or legally. 

For decades, Michigan has avoided joining other states in authorizing targeted lethal control of nuisance geese. Instead, people could obtain permits to round up and relocate geese that weren’t deterred by tactics like hazing or destroying their nests and eggs. 

A cottage pest control industry emerged in response, with contractors moving thousands of birds each year to state game areas frequented by hunters. 

It was an imperfect solution at best, said Avers. 

Within months, the geese usually flew back where they came from.

More recently, the nationwide bird flu outbreak has sparked fears that moving geese could spread disease. In response, state officials have canceled the roundup for three years running. 

Under the new policy, presented Thursday during a meeting of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, qualifying applicants will instead be allowed to hire crews from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to kill the geese. 

The carcasses would then be disposed of, or processed and donated to charities.

The Canada goose’s dramatic recovery is an anomaly. 

Worldwide, bird populations have plummeted by 2.9 billion breeding adults over the past half-century — a crisis caused mainly by human habitat encroachment and climate change.

But like rats and whitetail deer, geese have adapted to the changed landscape, said Stephanie Beilke, senior manager of conservation science with Audubon Great Lakes. 

“They love to eat lawns and low grass, and it's become a plentiful resource,” Beilke said. 

And as society’s fossil fuel consumption heats the earth’s atmosphere and melts Michigan’s winters, geese are opting to stick around instead of flying south each fall.

In short, Beilke said: "We've caused this issue."

Animal-rights advocates contend killing geese is inhumane, and Avers acknowledged the DNR has received some pushback on the policy.

But she said she doesn’t expect it to result in widespread goose-killing, in part because of high costs and controversy over the policy.

“We are anticipating some sites (that previously relocated geese) will actually not be interested in doing the roundup, because they do not want birds killed,” she said. 

Plus, hiring crews to kill geese is expected to cost landowners significantly more than the old relocation program. And applicants will need to clear several hurdles to qualify for a permit, including first trying other tactics to dissuade nuisance geese. 

The change could mean less business for Chris Compton, whose Holland-based pest control business Goose Busters typically relocates thousands of geese each year.

“We heard about it last year,” Compton said, “so I knew it was coming.”

Like the geese, Compton has adapted to his circumstances. He now rents out border collies that are trained to chase away problem flocks.