Friends of Animals gets many calls in the spring and summer from concerned members who are upset that their condo complex, retirement community or lake association are approving egg addling, other harassment measures and even worse, Canada geese roundups and slaughter, because they believe there are too many in their respective areas.

Earlier this month we heard from a resident of a neighborhood in Buffalo because her homeowner’s association board was actively facilitating a U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Wildlife Services goose roundup, with a resident opt-in deadline of May 31 and the roundup scheduled between June 15 and July 3. The assault was deliberately timed during the geese’s molting season, when they are flightless and cannot escape. 

The board engaged the USDA without a community-wide survey or presenting any non-lethal alternatives to residents. 

Over the weekend, we heard that the plan has been put on hold because of public backlash, but until the HOA announces it has cancelled the plan entirely, FoA will continue to intervene and put pressure on the Board to engage in non-lethal methods.

Egg addling—oiling, shaking, or puncturing an egg during incubation until the embryo is unviable—is barbaric. And gassing geese after rounding them up is unthinkable.

This HOA doesn’t have a Canada goose population problem—the problem is people who don’t want to clean up after wildlife. But as humans continue to encroach on wildlife habitat, they need to learn how to live in harmony with the waterfowl. 

Friends of Animals believes habitats can be modified creatively to make them less attractive to Canada geese, which is why we developed our Canada Goose Habitat Modification Manual. It is available at friendsofanimals.org. 

But since Canada geese have a remarkable ability to adapt to human settings, special attention to cleanup has become essential. And the truth is, these days it’s easier than ever to institute clean-up programs that rid an area of goose droppings. 

For instance, in the U.S., Georgia-based manufacturer Tow and Farm offers different size pieces of equipment—its Tow and Collect series—that provide an efficient method of collecting goose feces

Cities like Ottawa, Canada and Boston have had much success. 

Canada Geese mate for life. While mothers are teaching their young how to find food or swim, the father is on the lookout, protecting the family. He might not be right alongside the children, instead he may be some distance off from the rest of the family. This is to distract any predators from the little ones. 

Within a flock, there are typically several families who raise their children communally. Males and females share the responsibility of caring for the goslings and several pairs of parents may take turns caring for the young while other couples rest or eat. 

They are also compassionate. They take special care of the elderly and sick. During migration, if one goose is too weak to carry on with the rest of the flock, another, healthy bird will stay behind with the weak bird, keeping he or she company and helping to protect them from predators until they regain strength or die. 

How anyone can think of Canada geese as pests is beyond us.