Dylan Brogan
Volunteer Rick Bogle hazes geese away from Esther Beach Park.
It’s Saturday morning at Esther Beach on the south shore of Lake Monona and the place is jumping. There aren’t any people but plenty of birds are out enjoying the cool, sunny day. The bright orange breasts of two orioles catch the eye as they bop around some tall grass. A great blue heron bobs its sinuous neck into the water looking for a meal. A small flock of white pelicans are floating by off in the distance. The Madison Parks Division welcomes these feathered friends. The 26 Canada geese loitering in the grass next to the sandy beach are another matter.
Rick Bogle, a longtime animal activist and newly deputized parks volunteer, is here to haze the geese in an effort to prevent the city from carrying out its annual slaughter of the birds. Last year, the parks division paid the federal government to round up and kill 126 Canada geese. One year, the city slaughtered as many as 251 birds.
For the first time, the parks division is trying out a program where volunteers like Bogle count and haze geese to stop the birds from congregating in certain areas of Madison parks.
Bogle is equipped with a clipboard, a pair of binoculars and a whistle. From the parking lot, about 50 feet from the geese, he peers through the binoculars and counts 18 large goslings and six adults. Bogle has been assigned to monitor Esther Beach and a few other parks. It’s his third visit to this park, but the first time he’s spotted geese here.
“The whistle was my idea,” says Bogle.
After the head count, Bogle gets to work. He makes a bee-line for the geese, clapping his hands and blowing the whistle in a harsh, staccato rhythm. The geese, who seem more annoyed than scared, file into the water as he gets close.
“I think it’s a good idea to stand here for a little to make sure the geese move along and don’t come right back,” says Bogle. “Apparently, geese can become inured. Over time, they might realize it's just Rick with his whistle again and blow me off.”
Today, Bogle’s mission appears successful. But will the new goose patrols prevent the city from carrying out an annual kill?
Parks Superintendent Eric Knepp doesn’t know whether the efforts of volunteer harassers — about 10 people — will end the slaughter.
“The ultimate goal is not to use lethal take. I can’t say with 100 percent certainty that we will or won’t this year. We are authorized and permitted to do so,” Knepp says. “We are optimistic that if a cull or lethal take is conducted, I’m quite certain it would be at a historically low level if not the lowest in eight years.”
Knepp explains that in some popular parks — notably Vilas, James Madison, Warner and Tenney — large numbers of geese can make a park unusable for people. The birds can be aggressive and territorial. And they poop a lot.
“We are committed to continuously improving our processes in wildlife management to balance the needs and desires of humans and the interest of wildlife including geese,” says Knepp. “We don’t take that work lightly. I think we have demonstrably shown over the last eight years we have made substantial progress.”
Knepp says controlling the goose population is a yearlong effort. Earlier this year, a record number of eggs — 200 — were coated with oil to prevent them from hatching. Some beaches have strobe lights to scare the geese off the sand. For years, the city has been restoring natural shorelines around the lakes to make it less hospitable for large populations of the 10-pound birds. The harassment is new this year.
“This has been on the burner for years as an idea. However, signaling to the public that we want help harassing geese has its risks. But we have determined that it is worth that risk this year and we are trying,” says Knepp. “[Lethal takes] are not easy. They are not done lightly. They are certainly not free. We are investing far more resources into non-lethal forms of management on geese and other wildlife than we are on lethal take.”
Knepp notes that it is illegal under state law to touch geese.
Within the next month, the geese will molt and temporarily lose the ability to fly. It’s typically the time when the city carries out the lethal take. Knepp says it’s also the reason why the parks division is cautious about volunteers (and the public) harassing geese.
“If you harass them during their molt, you are literally just tormenting them. The purpose of hazing is to get them to move,” says Knepp. “We also don’t have a zero goose policy. That is not our goal. The goal is to get them to relocate to less of a conflict or priority area.”
Knepp says the effort seems to be having some effect, with bird counts in Vilas, James Madison and Tenney down significantly this year.
Mary Telfer, with the Alliance for Animals, has been trying for years to get the city to stop killing geese. She praises the hazing program.
“From what it looks like, it doesn’t feel like they need to kill any geese this year and that’s my hope,” says Telfer. “I think take or cull or euthanizing are nice words that make it seem kind or something. This is not at all kind.”
Telfer says there’s a reason why the annual geese kill happens early in the morning before most of Madison wakes up.
“The way they did it last year, they separate the parents from the babies. They put the babies in this thing that looks like a refrigerator and they gas them,” says Telfer. “They round up the parents for slaughter.”
Telfer says geese are family-orientated creatures and are monogamous for life.
“Geese protect each other. If one is injured, at least one flockmate will wait with them until they recover or die,” says Telfer. “Science is showing more and more that geese mourn for each other.”
Bogle sees no reason why the birds and people can’t share city parks. He says the training with the parks division was a cinch.
“It was an informal email,” says Bogle. “Basically, just walk towards them and herd them towards the lake.”
Bogle and his partner, Lynn, have also taken it upon themselves to clean up after the geese.
“We collected a big bag of droppings. It’s really not that difficult once it solidifies a bit,” says Bogle. “We put it in our compost. It’s an excellent source of nitrogen, better than cow manure.”
After finding no geese at nearby Paunack (A.O.) Park, Bogle heads back to Esther Beach to see if the 26 geese have returned.
“No geese,” Bogle says with a grin. “I guess the whistle worked.”
Editor's note: This story has been edited because it originally referred to Canada geese as Canadian geese.