Nearly 300 geese will be removed and euthanized this month from two parks in Maryland and the meat will go to feed homeless people, authorities said.
The effort is being done by Montgomery Parks, which is part of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission as part of its geese removal project. The geese will be removed from two parks in the Washington suburbs – Martin Luther King Jr. Park and Rock Creek Regional Park.
Officials said they will be removed from the park, “humanely euthanized” and then processed for “human consumption.” The goose meat will be donated to the Maryland Food Bank.
The county said the geese removal process is being done by a federally permitted wildlife contractor. Other efforts like this one have been undertaken throughout the region, officials said. The geese are expected to be removed this month and into July while they molt their feathers, park officials said.
The removal of the geese comes as officials have been trying to deal with their overpopulation at area golf courses, parks, lakes and recreational fields. One of the biggest issues is the amount of excrement they leave behind.
Dave Peterson, a natural resources specialist with Montgomery Parks, said the geese are “year-round residents” and they’re creating several issues for park users and staff.
“The excessive feces they leave, up to one pound daily, is not only unsightly but causes unsanitary conditions around bodies of water, docks, pathways, athletic fields and lawn areas,” Peterson said.
Geese create a host of other problems, wildlife experts said, including damaging shorelines, getting on area roads and damaging turf.
Park officials said they’ve tried other methods to rid area parks of geese, including fencing, using repelling devices and trying to ban people from feeding them. While the methods have worked at some parks, they have “not been sufficient” at these two parks where the birds will be euthanized, according to park authorities.
Other areas have used border collies to get the geese to move from areas where they’ve became a nuisance.
The federal government has hired contractors to manage its goose poop problem outside such agencies as the Interior, Homeland Security and Defense.
At Montgomery County’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park, one of the biggest problems is the excessive feces on the lawn, which patrons use, and on a paved path around the park’s pond. Officials said there has also been a problem of geese trying to cross a busy roadway nearby.
Geese have also caused trouble for decades at Rock Creek Regional Park. As a result, vegetation has been damaged and there’s a buildup of feces along the shoreline, boat dock and lawn areas there, officials said.
Another problem at Rock Creek Regional is that the geese often cross a nearby road. There has been a slight drop in population as officials have tried to manage nests, but a lot of adult geese remain, officials said.
Canada geese are known for their long black necks and heads with a white patch on their cheeks. In Maryland, there are migratory and resident geese. Migratory geese typically nest in northern Canada during the summer and come to Maryland in the winter, mainly on the Eastern Shore and around the Chesapeake Bay.
Maryland’s “resident population” of geese are native to the area. They were first introduced in the 1930s to the area after being transplanted from the Midwest. The area is attractive for the waterfowl in several ways – mild weather, no natural predators and plenty of food.
As Maryland officials said, “they never leave,” and their numbers have continued to increase.
(c) 2016, The Washington Post ยท Dana Hedgpeth
