It wasn't so long ago that the wild cries of Canada geese overhead were enough to draw most people out of their homes to look skyward. It was a rare sound heard only in the spring and fall when migrating flocks of these magnificent birds marked the change of the seasons. But today the sound is less delightful to growing numbers of people as goose populations have become permanent residents of the Northeast and caused numerous problems.
Non-migratory flocks of Canada geese are now present from Cape Cod to Virginia. According to the Atlantic Flyway Council, these geese have provoked nuisance complaints from local communities in every one of the states involved, except Delaware. Delaware has had problems in the past but they are presently under control. These resident populations cause numerous sanitation problems in local communities. Examples are accumulations of feathers and droppings, odor, noise, landscape and crop destruction, the decoying-in of additional geese, and overfertilization of ponds, thus causing algal growth and concerns about health problems, especially in swimming and other recreational areas.
