COLUMBUS (WCMH) – 250 geese have been “humanely euthanized” after becoming a safety and health problem along the Scioto Mile, according to the Columbus Recreation and Parks Department.
“I’ve noticed there used to be a lot of geese and I haven’t seen any in a while, as a matter of fact, which is kind of odd,” said Susie McGarry.
McGarry said she walks along the Scioto River almost every day during her lunch break. She said she noticed they left a mess, but didn’t have a problem with geese in the parks.
“I didn’t know if they could somehow be relocated as opposed to having to kill them because that does seem unfortunate,” she said.
Joe Schlegel said although euthanasia isn’t his first choice, he’s glad the pathways are clear of droppings.
“Especially if it rains it gets real messy, so yeah I’m kind of pleased that the sidewalks are clean to walk on,” said Schlegel.
But, not all the geese are gone from that area. Communications manager for the department Brian Hoyt said 50 geese were left behind. He said it’s a more manageable flock for a concentrated area like the Scioto Mile.
“When you have a lot of geese in a concentrated area, there’s a limited number of food and like any other animal they become very aggressive,” said Hoyt.
He said they also received reports from residents about geese attacking people.
“The other thing with a concentrated area is there’s always geese waste that’s left behind and that really in a concentrated amount can be disease carrying and really cause a lot of health issues,” said Hoyt.
He said they’ve tried other solutions that haven’t worked and that’s what led them to kill 250 geese by putting them into a carbon dioxide induced narcosis back in June.
“Over the past couple of years we’ve tried other methods of removing the geese, moving them, harassment, dogs, loud noises and over the years that has cost around $16,000. When we came to the conclusion that this was really the most humane way to deal with this issue, this recent practice cost the city a little over $10,000,” said Hoyt. “No different than when you have a deer hunting area or where you have an area of concentrated wildlife where you just reduce the herd so that there’s ample enough food for them and there’s a not a danger posed to anyone around them.”
Hoyt said they had to get a special permit in order to get rid of the geese, since the animals are protected.
“To get a permit to be able to do this from the state and ultimately from the federal government, you really have to show a good reason and cause why you want to reduce the amount of geese that are in the area,” he said.
Recreation and Parks also asks people not to feed the geese. It helps maintain the flock so more don’t come to the same area, looking for food.
Hoyt also reminds residents that individuals are not allowed to hurt or harm geese.