Goose hunt planned at Juniper Hill

Worcester Telegram & Gazette ^ | September 10, 2001 | Sandy Quadros Bowles

[2Trievers]

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Goose hunt planned at Juniper Hill

Monday, September 10, 2001

By Sandy Quadros Bowles
Telegram & Gazette Staff

NORTHBORO-- With its low grass, abundant water supplies and wide open spaces, Juniper Hill Golf Course has everything a Canada goose could want, according to course manager Dudley W. Darling.
     As a result, he said, the course has become overrun with the birds.
     Next month, hunters will be allowed on the property to shoot a limited number of the birds.
     “We're not doing a wholesale slaughter,” Mr. Darling said. “We're just trying to keep the levels in moderation.”
     The hunt is a last resort to thin out the geese at the course.
     “They're a pretty bird,” Mr. Darling said as about 30 Canada geese waddled around the 17th hole on a recent afternoon. “If this is all we had, I'd be fine.”
     He estimates that about 100 to 150 geese live at the golf course, and expects the hunters to kill 30 to 50.
     It will not be the first Canada goose hunt at Juniper Hill. For at least four years hunters have visited the course during set times to shoot some of the geese, Mr. Darling said.
     The Canada goose hunting season is divided into three parts. The early season, which is only for shooting resident geese, began Tuesday and runs to Sept. 25; hunters are limited to five birds per day.
     The regular season runs from Oct. 10 to Nov. 24, and from Dec. 14 to Dec. 19. Hunters are limited to two birds per day; both resident and migratory geese can be shot. The late season runs from Jan. 15 to Feb. 9; hunters are limited to five birds per day and can only shoot resident birds.
     About a quarter of the state's resident Canada goose population is killed every year in the hunts, said Marion Larson, outreach coordinator for the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife. The population of geese increases by 30 percent to 35 percent each year, she said.
     The major problem with the geese is the mess they make, Mr. Darling said. The droppings on one green alone can easily fill half a bucket.
     Ms. Larson agrees that the problem with the geese is “not their presence, but their calling card.” One Canada goose can leave a half a pound of droppings per day. “That's more than I scoop in kitty litter for my two cats,” she said.
     Like fertilizer, the droppings will burn the golf course greens if they are not removed, Mr. Darling said. The lawn around the greens is dotted with droppings; the lawn is mowed two or three times a week in an attempt to get rid of the droppings, he said.
     Four to eight hunters will be allowed to shoot geese on the course during certain early mornings next month, he said. The organizer of the hunt informs police when the hunting will take place, Mr. Darling said.
     Birds must be in flight when they are shot, Mr. Darling said. Shotguns are used to kill the birds; the bullets only travel 200 to 300 yards, he said, so neighbors will not be affected.
     Hunters usually eat the geese they shoot, he said. Canada geese are “wonderful food,” Ms. Larson said.
     She said that allowing Canada goose hunting is one way to remove some of the geese from property such as golf courses. Other solutions include not mowing the grass near shorelines. “They don't like walking in 12 inches of grass.”
     Having dogs chase the geese away is another option, Ms. Larson said, although that just tends to move the geese to another area where they still may be a nuisance.
     Mr. Darling said he has tried using a border collie to chase away the geese, but “you're pushing the problem off to another area. Now someone else has a problem.”
     He also has tried shooting blanks at the geese and setting off fireworks to scare them away. That works for a while, he said, “but they fly back.”
     People who feed the geese create a major problem, Ms. Larson said. They usually mean well when they feed the geese, but “actions can have unintended consequences.
     “When birds get used to people that way, somebody's going to get hurt,” she said. Canada geese will hiss or nip at people if they feel threatened.
     The hunt is “part of a whole management criteria,” she stated. “We're trying to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people.”
     Shooting geese is not the way to go, said Stephanie A. Hagopian, director of the Living with Wildlife program of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
     In a state as densely populated as Massachusetts, people and wildlife have more contact now than in the past, she said. Shooting the geese is a short-term solution that “isn't going to work” in the long run, she said.
     The Living with Wildlife program advocates solutions such as allowing natural vegetation to grow around waterways where geese congregate, using natural grasses rather than specialty grasses on golf courses, and putting oil on the birds' eggs to ensure they won't hatch.
     In this way, she said, “we're trying to get at issues of population control. We're stressing long-term solutions so people don't have to deal with the problem” anymore.

[2Trievers]

Sure would solve my problem about what to have for dinner tomorrow night.