Feathers fly over ‘nuisance’ geese
Geese in their hundreds have got Ka¯piti residents in a flap.
Growing gaggles have taken up residence at Waikanae lagoons, and their aggressive behaviour, noise and mess are worrying the locals.
Some residents say the birds are the neighbours from hell, pooping on the street, chasing children and scaring dogs, and they should be culled.
But the council says its hands are tied, so it’s working with an animal charity to rehome some of the worst offenders.
At least 30 of the feral domestic geese at Waimanu Lagoon would be rounded up and sent to pastures and ponds afresh, Ka¯piti Coast District Council spokesman Max Pederson said.
‘‘This population has grown from a small number of illegally released geese, and highlights the problems such irresponsible behaviour causes.’’
While there had been one complaint about a goose’s ‘‘aggression toward a dog’’, most objections were about hygiene, and geese wandering across roads and into private property, he said.
‘‘This should be balanced by saying that some residents and visitors like the geese, and have encouraged them by feeding.’’
On Wednesday, a homeowner in a house backing on to the lagoon said the birds were ‘‘a nuisance and a health hazard’’.
‘‘The whole place reeks of their poo, and they scare the living daylights out of people.’’
Another homeowner, who did not want to be named, said she was ‘‘sick and tired of the disgusting mess’’ made by the birds that congregated at her back fence.
‘‘It’s fine and well for people to come down here and feed them, but they [the people] then get to go to their home where the geese can’t follow.’’
Pederson said the council’s wings were clipped by the fact that Greater Wellington Regional Council did not list the geese as pests.
‘‘Effective control of canada geese would require co-ordinated action at the regional level. Given this, we don’t currently have plans to undertake control of the species on council land.’’
Regional council spokesman Stephen Heath said the problem would be looked at as part of the regional pest management plan.
Whether they were included in the plan depended on a costbenefit analysis to determine if they meet the minimum criteria.
‘‘But the fact is that their numbers are hard to control, and achieving an acceptable public consensus on our approach would be necessary.’’
The public will get the opportunity to comment on whether the geese are included in the plan, which should be ready for public review sometime from June, and come into force sometime around November 2018.
Carolyn Press McKenzie, founder of animal charity HUHA, said homes had been found for more than 30 geese, and the organisation was ready to help catch the birds as soon as the council gave the go-ahead.