— Egg addling & public education measures start this year —
(OSOYOOS TIMES — March 28, 2007) —
After years of talking about it, a number of Okanagan communities have finally launched a jointly funded effort to try to stop the rapid increase in the valley's goose population.
The first year of the goose-control project began in February “ but its co-ordinator says that while it should be effective over the long run, the numbers of geese in the valley will likely still go up for the next five years before levelling off.
This is at a time when Interior Health officials say they will increase water quality testing at many Okanagan beaches this summer and will post no-swimming signs if E. coli and coliform levels “ sometimes caused by goose droppings “ are too high.
Interior Health's Director of Health Protection, Ken Christian, told the Osoyoos Times last week the rapidly increasing number of geese in the valley is a health concern.
There comes a time when the natural population interferes with health and safety, and we have to take action, Christian says.
He says last year Interior Health tested water quality near about 75 beaches in the Thompson, Okanagan, Shuswap and Kootenay-Boundary areas. A few beaches, notably near Kelowna, had 'Unfit for Recreational Use' signs posted because of contamination levels that were higher than acceptable levels.
It's an unsanitary practice to have high populations of waterfowl adjacent to beaches. We see a lot of fecal coliform from goose feces, Christian says.
Lionel Dallas, President of the Osoyoos Lake Water Quality Society, has said that, after septic systems, geese are the biggest polluters of Osoyoos Lake.
Geese transport all the bad things: E. coli, cryptosporidium, Giardia, and campylobacter, and they are also the cause of 'swimmer's itch', Dallas says.
In 2005 he noted there were about 2,000 geese living around Osoyoos Lake, and each bird drops three pounds of fecal matter per day, which means if you have an average flock of 100, that amounts to 54 tonnes per flock per year.rnChristian says Interior Health plans to reduce the number of beaches it tests this summer to about 40 where there are at least 100 swimmers per day, so it can increase the frequency of testing. At Osoyoos last year, the agency tested water at the main Gyro Beach, 'Motel Row' Beach, Legion Beach and Lions Beach.
The new project to tackle the goose population is overseen by the Okanagan Regional Goose Management Committee and is funded by contributions from a number of municipalities up and down the valley “ including up to $10,000 from Osoyoos.
After a recent call for proposals, the Delta, B.C. firm, EBB Environmental Consulting, was hired for an initial year, and possibly for yearly extensions after that.
Estimates put the budget for the annual program at between $100,000 and $150,000.
EBB's project co-ordinator, Kate Hagmeier is a biologist who specializes in goose ecology.
Hagmeier told the Osoyoos Times on Saturday she and a crew of six began work up and down the valley last month, based out of Peachland because of its central location.
She says the main activities in this first establishing year of the project will be a combination of control methods “ primarily 'addling' or shaking eggs to prevent hatching “ and a variety of public education initiatives.
Hagmeier says while it will take a few years before the increasing goose population levels off, she believes it can make an impact in the long run.
But she notes that effective goose control will only come from the ongoing work of many jurisdictions carrying out many different activities. That means not only her project, but also municipalities and others such as airports and hunters, doing a variety of things such as egg addling, habitat alteration, sport hunting, and hazing scare tactics using dogs, falcons or noisemakers.
There is no silver bullet. The egg addling is just one of many tools, Hagmeier says.
She adds that golf courses and airports have used hazing effectively, and Vernon has carried out an egg addling program successfully for a number of years.
Hagmeier says her hope is that EBB can conduct its egg addling and public education over the next three years and then phase itself out, with these activities becoming part of the regular work of municipalities and regional districts throughout the Okanagan, in addition to the other goose control methods those governments also use.
I hope it can become self-sustaining, Hagmeier says. It needs to be addressed regularly to be effective.rnShe says the goal is not to eliminate all geese, but to find a proper ecological balance between geese and people.
EBB's project territory runs from just south of Vernon to Osoyoos.
Hagmeier says her crew's initial work is to search for paired geese and identifying nesting areas. During April they will addle eggs “ shaking them and putting them back in nests so the adults will remain there but will have no hatchlings.
She says it's the most humane way to control the goose population and is recommended by the U.S. Humane Society.
The project crew will also develop signs to post near their addling activity to let the public know what is going on, and in future months will develop brochures and give talks to inform the public and various groups about the goose management strategy. That includes making presentations at schools and providing park interpreters with information about the program, so they can inform the public. The project team will also prepare applications for grants to help support more goose control work in the area.
Hagmeier also plans to contact the Okanagan First Nations Alliance to seek its input on the project.
She is aware of the human health impact that geese have and admits that swimming advisories are a real concern because of the increasing numbers of geese near Okanagan beaches. She adds that Interior Health is very supportive of this project.rnHagmeier says she is very pleased with the level of support shown for the project by participating municipalities and regional districts, and by the shared vision of the overseeing Regional Goose Management Committee. She notes that details are still being finalized regarding which communities are participating and helping to fund the project, and she says those which choose not to contribute funding shouldn't expect the project to do any work in that community.
She is optimistic that after three years the project will sow the seeds of a co-ordinated approach to goose management in the Okanagan.
I think we'll get good results.rnPeople wanting more information about the project will be able to check the following website, which will be available soon: www.okanagangooseplan.com
