Canadian Geese Stopover at Lake Powhatan, NC

[wanderlust-JAY]

We stayed at Lake Powhatan Campground in the Blue Ridge Mountains, near Asheville NC, last week and were fortunate enough to see one of nature's great migrations: Canadian Geese stopover on their way south for the winter.

 

[ALJO]

I told them to stay in Canada and buy a Jayco with winter package, I guess they didn't listen. We need the fertilizer........

 

[wanderlust-JAY]

First video link died... reposting:

 

[jaycojay]

If you want Geese .... we have enough here in SW Ontario for everyone to enjoy ..... just watch where u are stepping

 

[North of 49°]

Across the street from us is a park with a community garden. During the fall migration there's usually no less than 100 geese in there on a daily basis, cleaning up any veggies left behind after the gardeners harvest their crops. We avoid the park during these times, because you can't set foot in there because of the goose poop, and let's face it, geese are mean.

 

[Grumpydad]

The worst thing Canada ever produced. Awful creatures.

 

[North of 49°]

the worst thing canada ever produced. Awful creatures.

Truth.

 

[Bassdogs]

Goose Poop``

Over the last 30=40 years Canada Geese have spawned a breed that is not migratory and stays year around in the lower mid west. During that span apartment complexes and business developments were required to dig large retention ponds to collect and hold rain water to mediate flooding in their area. These ponds became the year around home for a growing flock of geese. At first the residents loved having them around but quickly it became clear that they were a disaster if you lived around or near these ponds. Geese poop and do it regularily and often. Thats where "loose as a goose" comes from. They are protected so you can't legally run them off or harass them in any way. Patios and back yards became unlivable as they were covered in goose poop, all over the ground, picnic tables, lawns, etc. The problem continues to grow worse every year as the flocks breed and grow larger. The protection blanket comes from the federal migratory bird act intended to keep one area from wiping them out as they move thru so they can be hunted N to S.

Yes there are still great numbers of geese that still migrate. Too bad we can't urge the others to join them.

 

[Grumpydad]

We have a good supply of year-round geese in Calgary as well.

 

[Bassdogs]

Another example of Federal overreach and laws that have unintended consequences. Its ok to protect wildlife or maybe I should say manage them, but a blanked protection order is stupid. It prevents homeowners from preventing damage to their property and makes many city and county parks unusable. I'm not infavor of wiping them out, just being allowed to move them on when they are creating a nuisance.

 

[Grumpydad]

There is a hunting season for them here. I don't think they are a popular game bird.

 

[jaycojay]

When i was a kid, i remember going to Jack Miners in Kingsville, a small town about 20 min to 1/2 hour out of Windsor. Jack Miners was a sanctuary where in the fall/winter, thousands of geese would be there before migrating. My Dad tells me Jack Miner received $'s from the government for this, because it became a huge attraction and people came from all over to see these Geese. Now, years later, the Jack Minor Sanctuary is still there, but a handfull of geese show up. Most no longer migrate, and they are all over .... at times blocking roads as they decide to cross.... it really is something to see. Every day they fly over my home, because there are ponds behind us ..... is i was a hunter, i could sit in my back yard with a slingshot and take 'em down.... an i used to think they never dumped while flying, till about a month ago, when a flock flew over head and painted the pavement on our court with their poop. Now, when they fly over, i no longer just look up and enjoy watching, i know to take cover!

 

[North of 49°]

Where we live is in the middle of the central migratory flyway, and during migration there are literally thousands of geese stopping over. In some of the storm retention ponds around here in September and early October, there are so many Canada geese that you could theoretically walk across the pond, stepping from goose back to goose back, without getting your feet wet.

 

[wanderlust-JAY]

I'm not infavor of wiping them out, just being allowed to move them on when they are creating a nuisance.

They probably think the same about us...

 

[Tunce the traveler]

They probably think the same about us...

X2, we took over their land because we breed like rabbits and need more room.

 

[Bassdogs]

X2, we took over their land because we breed like rabbits and need more room.

Really an old and tired argument!! The circle of life is all about survival of the species from the bottom of the food chain to the top. Man typically rises to the top given our ability to invent [traps, weapons, and technology in general]. The whole thing goes sideways when someone decides its proper or necessary to intervene in the cycle to "protect" one species over and other or over mankind who after all "took over their land". What we end up with eventually is something like C geese who now are over running our streams, canals, and ponds and making a discusting and dangerous mess where ever they congregate. Like I said before, management is fine but blanket protection [vs controlled hunting] is always a disaster.

Responsible hunters are mankind's most outspoken protectors of wildlife because they understand that over hunting will wipe out their prey for the future. Snowflakes, who think their ribeyes and chicken comes from Krogers and want to grant protection to our furry friends, are happy to let others do their killing. They get weird when they get blood on their hands when they open that roast they got at the store.

C Geese have overpopulated because they are protected in areas where they are not hunted [apartment retention ponds] and because hunting regulations are not adjusted to keep their numbers in check. It is the geese who breed like rabbits.