Sault Ste. Marie works to battle a major goose problem. Here's what's being done about it

Sault Ste. Marie city staff are investigating and developing a management plan after grappling with challenges caused by local geese.

Coun. Angela Caputo initially raised the idea at a council meeting in mid-July. She has asked city staff to research and develop a goose management plan aimed at exploring different options and weighing the costs of controlling the birds in the area.

Caputo said geese are starting to overrun many picturesque waterfront amenities, including the boardwalk, Bellevue Park and Clergue Park. 

"One day, I took my daughter out for a walk on our boardwalk. We noticed a cruise ship and she wanted to get closer and see it. The closer we got to the boardwalk, the more we could not avoid the goose droppings. There were about 60 geese that we had to just walk through. They were quite aggressive to me and to her. She's only two years old."

Caputo describes the animal's behaviour as "unacceptable," saying there's a growing cost to the city in terms of both time and money.

"We had a run that had over 600 athletes participating in it over our boardwalk. Our staff had spent over seven and half hours the previous day making sure everything was clean. They took the sweepers out, cleaned the paths for the runners and by the next morning when the race was being run, it was completely covered in goose droppings." 

She said many residents and visitors have started to avoid these attractions due to aggressive geese or goose feces.

"Being a northern municipality, we deal with a really harsh winter. So when these amenities are available for us to be able to use, I would really like to be able to see people being able to enjoy them rather than millions of dollars being poured into these spaces and they're only occupied by geese," said Caputo.

How are cities tackling the feathery nuisances

Several cities, including Sudbury, Ottawa and Toronto, have implemented goose management plans. Caputo said these cities have reported up to a 50 per cent reduction in geese after the strategies were implementted.

James St. John, superintendent of horticulture for the City of Greater Sudbury, said geese are still causing challenges for the city, as well as for farmers, golf courses and anyone with well-maintained grass. Sudbury's goose management program involves hiring contractors to conduct site visits aimed at scaring off the geese.

"We incorporate a few different hazing techniques to scare them off land back into the water… we try to push them back into the water so that they're not defecating on the grass," said St. John.

"They use a combination of canines to scare away the geese. They also use bangers, which is just a loud noise maker, and they also use lasers targeted at the usually dominant geese which will help scare them away."

St. John said the program has reduced the number of geese in the city, but it's hard to deal with the issue without a larger management program at the provincial or national level.

"It is a migratory bird and without trying to keep their numbers from increasing, it's still a catch-22 situation because the population over the last 40 years has increased almost exponentially for Canada geese. So without some sort of intervention, I don't see it getting too much better."

Kendra Labrosse, manager at parks and grounds maintenance with the City of Ottawa, said her city uses a combination of drones with flashing lights and distress noises, along with coyote decoys, to deter geese.

"Canada geese adapt quickly to new conditions. In order for deterrence measures to remain effective, they should be reviewed and modified periodically," wrote Labrosse in a statement to CBC Sudbury.

Danny Moro, with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, said his group offers a program that relocates geese during the molting process — when goslings lose their feathers and grow adult feathers, which happens between late June and August.

"It's no different than herding cattle, right? So if the geese are on the water, there'd be a bunch of boats that would slowly push them onshore. When the geese get pushed onto land, staff have their hands out and create kind of just a natural barrier and slowly walk them into a trailer," said Moro, explaining the process behind moving these aggressive birds.

According to Moro, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority relocated 3,000 to 5,000 geese 10 years ago. That number has dropped to just over 1,500 geese relocated from Toronto, Pickering, Markham and Brampton last month due to the effectiveness of the program.

Where do geese find sanctuary and safety

The geese are transported to private organizations and sanctuaries, including Jack Miner Migratory Bird Sanctuary near Windsor. Established in 1904 as the first waterfowl sanctuary in North America, the refuge serves as a haven for geese, where staff temporarily house the birds until they fully grow their adult feathers and are ready to migrate.

Another reason for relocating these geese during this time is to minimize human interactions with goslings during their vulnerable stage of life.

Matt Olewski, the sanctuary's executive director, explained, "When they are in public spaces, people love to feed them what they enjoy. If goslings are fed these foods before growing their adult feathers, they can develop a nutrient deficiency called Angel Wing, which renders them flightless and grounded for life."

Olewski said the species once held a romantic allure when it was near extinction in the 1920s and '30s. Through conservation efforts led by people like sanctuary founder Jack Miner, the goose population rebounded and the enchantment surrounding the species diminished.