Canada Geese New Jersey

Action Alerts

2009

NINE (9) COUNTIES IN NEW JERSEY ARE ROUNDING UP AND KILLING CANADA GEESE. THESE COUNTIES HAVE CONTRACTED WITH USDA WILDLIFE SERVICES. IF YOUR COUNTY IS ONE OF THE 9 COUNTIES, PLEASE CONTACT CANADA GEESE NEW JERSEY AND LET US KNOW. THANK YOU!

JUNE 16, 2009 - ARTICLE:

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/20090616_ap_geesecullingbeginsinnj.html

Geese-culling begins in NJ

The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. - Federal officials are trapping and killing Canada geese in nine New Jersey counties.

U.S. Agriculture Department spokeswoman Carol Bannerman confirms the "capture and removal" program is taking place for six weeks, the time the birds are molting and cannot fly.

Hundreds of Canada geese will be removed from parks, golf courses and areas near airports. A removal program last year reduced the population by less than 2,000 birds.

A similar program is under way in New York City, which plans to trap and gas up 2,000 Canada geese.

The hazard the birds pose to aircraft became a focus when U.S. Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River after striking a flock and losing both engines.

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Sayreville, New Jersey

Letters to Star-Ledger Editor: eletters@starledger.com

Sayreville, New Jersey - Mayor & Council member contact info below article.

http://www.nj.com/news/local/index.ssf/2009/04/sayreville_hires_firm_to_deal.html

Sayreville hires firm to deal with geese

by Aliyah Shahid/For The Star-Ledger

Wednesday April 15, 2009, 12:57 PM

It's a common problem in towns across New Jersey, though it's not the sort of thing you bring up in polite company. Delicate euphemisms such as avian excrement or bird droppings stand in for more crude colloquials.

But whatever you call it -- that unsightly waste that peppers Sayreville's parks and property -- the geese that produce it have overstayed their welcome, and officials once again are looking for ways to expel them.

The Sayreville Borough Council approved a $12,000 contract with Goose Control Technology on Monday for the removal of geese for the 2009 season.

Sayreville has a significant goose problem, said Stephen Toth, the chief wildlife biologist for Goose Control Technology. He said several measures could be used to help curb the population in the borough's parks, including hazing the birds with a green laser to chase them away. He also mentioned reproduction control by addling the eggs and terminating embryo development by puncturing the eggs or oiling them so oxygen can't get in. Geese may also be euthanized, he said. Those euthanized are distributed to the homeless in New Jersey, said Toth.

Councilwoman Lisa Eicher opposed the goose contract.

"I'm an animal lover," said Eicher. "There has got to be another way to do this."

Jeffry Bertrand, the borough's business administrator, said Sayreville's problem is primarily in its parks and athletic fields.

"It's unbelievable," said Bertrand of the problem in War Memorial Park, which is just behind the borough hall. "You can't walk a 2-foot square area without seeing three to four droppings."

Although the price tag for the removal this year is $12,000, the cost can change later, depending on how big the problem is, said Bertrand. The borough shelled out $14,775 in 2006, the highest Sayreville paid in five years, according to Bertrand.

Toth said the process will most likely begin today.

Toth said a conservative estimate for the population of resident geese in New Jersey is 100,000. He said 75-80 geese were killed last year in Sayreville.

He noted that New Jersey Steel Helistop Heliport is in Sayreville, a concern after a U.S. Airways plane landed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15 after its engines were disabled by geese.

Too many geese can be a problem, said Toth, and not just because of their unsightly excrement, which can result in 1.5 pounds of feces daily for every Canada goose. They destroy the habitat by eating grass and leaving the soil bare, which could lead to erosion. Their fecal material could end up in the water system, and they can be aggressive when they are nesting.

The goose population in Sayreville, said Toth, is likely to increase toward the end of September, when resident birds draw in birds that are migrating from Canada and New England.

Sayreville, he said, makes an ideal nesting place for the geese because of its proximity to water.

"The geese think Sayreville is a good place to make a home," he said.

Mayor Kennedy O'Brien
Kobrien@sayreville.com

Paula Siarkiewicz
Council President
psiarkiewicz@sayreville.com

David Kaiserman
Council President Pro Tempore
dkaiserman@sayreville.com

Stanley Drwal
Councilman
Sdrwal@sayreville.com

Lisa Eicher (as per article, opposes goose contract with G-Tech)
Councilwoman
leicher@sayreville.com

Kenneth Kelly, Sr.
Councilman
kkelly@sayreville.com

Kathy Makowski
Councilwoman
Kmakowski@888jphogan.com

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