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Donation would help reduce goose population on Delavan Lake

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

A group of goslings follow an adult Canada goose on the peninsula at Community Park on Delavan Lake.

Photo

Photo by Dan Lassiter

Geese feed in the grass at the end of the peninsula that is a popular fishing spot at Community Park on Lake Delavan.

DELAVAN TOWNSHIP — Dorothy Burwell isn't thrilled about hiring the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Service to drastically reduce the goose population on Delavan Lake.

From her seat as the chairwoman of the Delavan Town Board, she doesn't see any options.

The town for years has been trying methods of controlling the goose population around the lake and has not been able to get ahead of the problem, Burwell said.

"It's devastating," she said.

The crux of the problem is goose poop, Burwell tried to say politely.

"It's pretty darn big," she said. "If your ball runs through it, it's absolutely disgusting. Children can't play there. You can't go through there with sandals. It's an issue."

The town of Delavan got a $4,000 donation from the Delavan Lake Sanitary District to hire the wildlife service to capture and kill the geese.

The money was a donation from the Delavan Lake Sanitary District, Burwell said.

Wildlife service workers plan to capture geese from Community Park and any private properties where the owner consents, Burwell said.

In June or July, workers will herd geese into poultry cages, said Chip Lovell, district supervisory for the wildlife service in Waupun. Captures take place in summer when the geese have molted and can't fly, he said.

The adult geese will be processed for human consumption. The wildlife service stores the meat while it's tested for contaminants, he said. Once the meat is determined to be safe, it's donated to food pantries.

Pantries in the Delavan area will get the first chance at the goose meat. If they don't want it, lots of pantries are willing to take the meat, Lovell said.

The juvenile geese are processed for use as feed at animal shelters and sanctuaries, Lovell said.

Last year, the service captured geese in more than 30 communities, he said.

The USDA will capture and kill geese only if a municipality can show it's tried other options without success, Lovell said.

The town of Delavan has tried spraying eggs and holding a special early fall goose hunt, park director Steve Shoff said. For the last two years, the town has had a special permit to destroy goose nests, Shoff said.

Some municipalities and golf courses have used dogs to chase the geese away or installed fake coyotes as deterrents, he said.

Those options won't work in Community Park, Shoff said.

"There's no easy solution," Shoff said.

At times, he's counted 150 geese in the 15-acre park.

The capture won't eliminate geese from the lake, Lovell said. Geese molt at different times, and some will be able to fly away, he said. Some property owners probably will not allow the wildlife service access to some properties, Lovell said.

"The goal is not to eliminate the geese from the lake," Lovell said. "The whole idea is to get the geese down to a manageable level."

So far, most of the residents who have called the town hall about the goose capture have said they want the USDA to eliminate geese from their private property, Burwell said.

Some residents have called to oppose the capture.

One township resident, Rebecca Stritt, has started a Facebook page opposing the capture. Stritt is not opposed to goose management, but she's not confident that the town can show due diligence in its previous attempts to control the geese, she said.

"There's not a lot of data," Stritt said.

Burwell would be thrilled, she said, if a resident or organization came up with the money and the tools for a viable alternative, Burwell said.

"If all these people who are calling and protesting would sign up to be in the park to chase the geese out, it would be great," Burwell said. "We don't' have the money."