3/19/2007

Missourians have easier access to Canada goose solutions

You can get permission online to addle or oil goose eggs.

JEFFERSON CITY-Missourians who have problems with resident Canada geese now can apply online for permission to solve their own problems.

Thirty years ago, the sight of Canada geese nesting around municipal and suburban ponds was thrilling evidence of the success of conservation efforts. Today, most Missourians take the geese for granted. For others, the big birds are nuisances. Their droppings foul lawns and ponds, and the big birds become unpleasantly territorial in the spring, when they are nesting.

Like all waterfowl, Missouri's resident giant Canada geese come under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). Until recently, people with goose problems had to get permission from federal officials to kill geese or interfere with their nesting. That changed a few years ago, when the FWS delegated some of this authority to state wildlife officials. Now, landowners can get permission for one goose-control method more easily than ever.

Rex Martensen, private land field program supervisor for the Missouri Department of Conservation, said landowners now can go online (epermits.fws.gov/eRCGR/geSI.aspx) and get permission to treat giant Canada goose eggs so they won't hatch.

"If you tear up a goose nest and destroy the eggs, the birds will just build another nest and lay more eggs," said Martensen. "Geese can be pretty cagey, so you might not find the second nest. Then you have more geese and more problems. If you treat their eggs to prevent them from hatching and leave them in the nest, they will try to incubate those eggs until it is too late to try again."

Egg treatment can take two forms - applying a thin coating of corn oil or shaking eggs. Oiling prevents oxygen from getting to the developing embryos, so they die. Addling simply means shaking vigorously. This also kills developing embryos.

Other forms of lethal goose control still require a state-issued permit. These permits are available through local Conservation Department offices.

Details of egg oiling procedures are explained at mdc.mo.gov/7868. For a print version, write to MDC, Controlling Conflicts with Urban Canada Geese in Missouri, P.O. Box 180, Jefferson City, MO 65102-0180 or request the publication by e-mail to pubstaff@mdc.mo.gov.

-Jim Low-