By Lyonel Doherty
Oliver Chronicle
You wouldn’t want to be a goose in Oliver right now.
Once again the Town has approved the hunting of geese at the Oliver Airport and Tucelnuit Lake by issuing six permits to hunters.
It’s all part of the goose management program that started in 2010. The goal is to reduce the number of urban geese in the Oliver area. Of particular concern is Tucelnuit Lake where people are concerned about goose feces and water quality.
In his report, Director of Operations Shawn Goodsell indicated that 29 geese were culled from the airport in 2017-2018, compared to 30 in 2016-2017.
“The feedback from permitted hunters indicates that the geese are getting wise to those with guns and they are finding alternate places to congregate, and that is the goal of this program,” Goodsell said.
He pointed out that ceasing the program would have a negative impact on what has been achieved over the past eight years. He noted it has been several years since the Town received any complaints about geese.
