These days, the state’s giant Canada goose represents up to 80 percent of the wild goose population—and just as high a percentage of current human/goose conflicts.

Once thought to be more rumor than fact, stories about giant Canada geese were told among old-time goose hunters. It was generally thought they were extinct from this region. But, in the 1950s, remnant populations of the giant goose, the largest subspecies of the Canada goose known as Branta Canadensis maxima, were found nesting in dolomite cliffs along the Missouri River from St. Charles to Springfield, MO. It then became apparent that the old hunter folk tales were indeed fact.

With efforts to propagate and bring back their numbers, flocks began to be relocated to areas where they had long been gone, including Michigan. These days, the state’s giant Canada goose represents up to 80 percent of the wild goose population—and just as high a percentage of current human/goose conflicts.

The giant maximas can weigh as much as 18 pounds. And with their wing span of nearly 6 feet, they are formidable when would-be predators are around.

When biologists began to establish the geese in Michigan, they were kept in pens and their flight wings were clipped to prevent them from flying off. As a result, they became imprinted with their new home areas and were later released to breed and rear their young.

The beauty and grace of a vee of soaring wild geese is awesome to many, and soon many sites around the state were requesting captive flocks to be released in their area. It was an example of the old adage, “be careful what you ask for—you just might get it!”

Thunder Bay River wildlife sanctuary at Alpena is a prime example. When the geese were first released, locals delighted in driving to the river’s edge to feed them—the geese becoming regulars at this free lunch. Then it became obvious that these birds were lovely in the air and on the water, but they were messy on the ground.

Geese eat a lot. They eliminate a lot. And they give little care about where they do it. Lawns, golf courses, hospital grounds, and even school playgrounds received a share of “goose grease” as the maxima numbers increased. Soon awe turned to angst over too many wild geese.

Controlling this problem calls for capturing geese in their flightless molting stage, penning, then transferring them to other areas for release. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sometimes sends extra geese to other states in a swap of wildlife species as they do with other fish and game surpluses.

When roundups of geese take place, everybody in a DNR office may take part, herding the birds into corrals of snow fencing or chicken wire until they could be sent off to new sites.

Handling the problem of too many geese in less-populated places doesn’t compare with that of more heavily-populated downstate areas. Just ask Paul Muelle, chief of natural resources programs for the large Huron-Clinton Metro Parks. He oversees an area of 24,000 acres with 13 parks, golf courses, beaches, and a variety of park programs for 9 million annual park visitors.

“When it’s time to hold a roundup to remove geese from heavy-use areas, we use lots of employees. We do this under permit from the DNR. We chase and pen the geese for transfer using boats, golf carts, and employees’ dogs—like an old western cattle drive,” Muelle said.

Other methods the DNR has used to chase off or capture geese include scare devices (cost-effective when applied consistently as soon as geese arrive on your property), shell crackers, and bird bangers. There are also visual stimuli techniques including bird-scare balloons, mylar scare tape, and plastic flags.

The DNR, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, also set a late goose hunting season for the larger problem area of the southeast metro region of the state as a means of reducing the number of geese.

The return of this largest Canada goose and other smaller-strain Canadas is a success story that is worthy of praise. However, for those contending with “goose grease” problems, geese are not always admired neighbors.

Next time you see a soaring flight of large geese flying overhead, look up with awe and enjoy the vision. But when it comes time for them to land, remember that term “NIMBY.” Not In My Back Yard!