As geese thrive in Michigan parks and golf courses, state could allow lethal roundup

Where someone might see a pristine golf course or grassy lakeside park, a Canada goose sees a perfect home base.

The waterfowl, generations ago on the brink of extinction, are now thriving in Michigan’s cities and suburbs.

For some, too much so, leading to increasing complaints of poop and feather-covered lawns or docks, swimming beaches shuttered as E. coli levels spike and the occasional aggressive goose protecting an urban nest, state wildlife officials say.

Beginning in 2025, some lake associations, cities and homeowners groups might be able to recruit federal teams to round up and kill geese.

That’s because of proposed changes to a state management program unveiled by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources on Sept. 12, which have already garnered boos from animal rights advocates.

“It’s not something we have done much at all in the past,” said Barbara Avers, a DNR waterfowl and wetland specialist, addressing the option for increased deployment of lethal force for geese deemed a nuisance.

“What we’ve always really strived for in this program is to encourage people to tolerate geese, tolerate living with them,” she said, adding that’s still the aim, with killing birds to be used only as a last resort.

The Canada goose is a conservation success story, with reintroduction programs in the 1960s helping the bird rebound from habitat loss and hunting trends that nearly wiped the species out. Wildlife officials estimate the 2024 population in Michigan at close to 280,000, comfortably above a state population target with an upper bound of 225,000.

The native honkers have in past years peaked well at over 300,000 in the state.

But the sheer numbers don’t concern officials, as much as where large flocks of the highly adaptable birds set up shop — and how the humans who live nearby respond, according to Avers.

“What does their habitat look like? It’s grass and water, in a really basic sense. So we’ve created these really lush, manicured, fertilized lawns that are often really near water,” she said.

The state has liberalized its hunting regulations for Canada geese to the maximum allowed under federal migratory bird protections. Hunters can shoot them during a 107-day season and bag up to five birds per day.

But even so, nuisance complaints often arise in areas where local rules prohibit hunting, from subdivisions to parks, and few natural predators exist there, Avers said.

In the past, one solution for human-geese problems has been for private contractors that make up a cottage industry of certified goose managers to round up and relocate the birds to state game or wildlife areas.

But for three years running, that option has been canceled, with wildlife officials concerned about spreading highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, among wild populations and to domestic poultry and cows.

There were other problems with shipping thousands of geese around, Avers said.

With so many geese throughout the state, officials had to be careful about inadvertently moving human-goose conflicts from one area to another. They were running out of suitable release sites, and research indicated once the birds could fly they would return to where they hatched.

“Relocation is not sustainable,” Avers said. “We need to do something differently.”

If approved, changes to the state program would end relocating geese entirely. Instead, it would allow municipalities and private property owners to apply for a permit from the DNR to contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services to carry out goose collection and killing.

Dead birds could be donated to food charities or safely disposed off, officials say.

The proposal has rankled a national animal advocacy organization, which contends the real problem is residents’ attitudes, not the geese.

“Now there should be more killing? No, there should be more evolution. There should be more tolerance, more understanding of how to respect indigenous wildlife, how to live with them, rather than figuring out how to clobber them,” said Priscilla Feral, president of the national nonprofit Friends of Animals.

Feral has written to Michigan officials urging them to instead consider a solution using “poop scooper” equipment from companies like Georgia-based Tow and Collect to clean up after geese, as well as making some habitat modifications to discourage them from congregating or installing anchored floating islands to funnel them to particular out-of-the-way areas.

Avers says the DNR is aware of the opposition and takes the concerns into consideration.

Roundup and killing of geese would only be permitted in limited situations at sites with human health and safety concerns that have already tried nonlethal means, like scare tactics, and participated in options like nest and egg destruction allowed with permits under the state program.

Several contractors in Michigan offer a canine solution to goose woes, trained border collies who chase away the birds. Ann Arbor’s parks department, for example, employs their services in parks along the Huron River.

“We really want to push people to do that first,” Avers said of the alternate strategies. Still, she added, there are some sites, particularly around Metro Detroit, that have employed those practices for the roughly 50 years Michigan has had its goose management program and are still having issues.

Others may decide against pursuing roundup and elimination because they are opposed to the practice, she said.

There’s no quota for the number of geese that could be killed yet, with the state intending to use 2025 as a way to assess the logistics of the option, its demand and what a manageable number could look like, Avers said.

The proposed new policy also allows for Canada goose nest and egg destruction with a state permit across Michigan, doing away with geographic eligibility restrictions, and makes modifications to fees paid by program applicants and contractors.

The changes are not yet a done deal. They require a vote of the Michigan Natural Resources Commission, which may take up the matter at its next meeting on Oct. 10.