Regional councillors want to expand planned goose cull
Greater Victoria is about to embark on a pilot cull of about 250 resident Canada geese on private agricultural land.
Moulting adult Canada geese will be rounded up and then killed by “cervical adjustment” — in other words breaking their necks — said Capital Region parks manager Michael Walton.
This month’s planned cull represents a first for Vancouver Island, Capital Regional District directors have been told.
But if some of them have their way, it won’t be the last.
Some are so keen to clear Canada geese from parks and playing fields, they are willing to use gas tax grants to pay for culls.
“They’ve changed the gas tax rules where you can use gas tax for recreational facilities,” Juan de Fuca Electoral Area director Mike Hicks said.
“We’re also to the point where we’re losing the use of some of our public parks because of the amount of goose droppings,” said Sidney Mayor Steve Price.
Sooke councillor Rick Kasper suggested that if the CRD is looking to expand the cull program in the future, it might look to his community.
“All we’ve heard for decades is complaints about the geese population throughout the year. You’ve got young people out there in the soccer pitch and adults playing slo-pitch, so there’s a lot of conflict there.”
Price said Sidney has been working with the Victoria Airport Authority for years trying to do something about geese.
“We’re worried about them bringing down a jet into our town just on the safety end of it.”
Kim St. Claire, acting manager of visitor services, said the cull is a first for the province and the B.C. branch of the Canadian Wildlife Service.
“It’s been a complicated process with lots of review by the provincial veterinarian and biologists with the province as well as the Canadian Wildlife Service’s biologists over the past two years or so,” she said.
“It’s a unique situation and we’re looking forward to see what the results are. But the idea is we try it to see how it works.”
Larisa Hutcheson, general manager parks and environmental services, acknowledged that there are issues with geese in CRD parks and on playing fields, but said the cull is just focusing on agricultural land. Lessons learned from the cull will be incorporated into any further action, she said.
“If the CRD board would like to continue our involvement in this … we can either do it as a service that municipalities can participate in or we can pursue other opportunities. This is just a first step.”
The cull is phase 3 of a regional Canada goose management strategy, co-ordinated by the CRD with co-operation of a number of municipalities, the Victoria Airport Authority and Saanich Peninsula and Metchosin farmers.
The first two years were spent collecting data on geese populations, health, growth and impacts. That was followed by a public awareness campaign and training programs in egg addling. Staff say the aim of the cull is to remove up to 250 resident non-migratory geese, develop and refine the most efficient and humane approach to population reduction, understand public response to the cull and reduce impacts from the geese.