‘30 calls a day regarding geese’: WildNorth explains how you can protect a goose nesting near you

Dale Gienow with WildNorth talks about why geese sometimes abandon their nest and eggs.

Many Edmontonians are seeing geese nesting around their homes and workplaces. Dale Gienow, the executive director of WildNorth Northern Alberta Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation joined CTV Morning Live Edmonton to discuss how to protect them during nesting season.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

Cory Edel: Why don’t we talk about Lucy [a goose nesting on the CTV News Edmonton grounds] and why she left the nest and left the eggs in a vulnerable situation?

Dale Gienow: Nature can work in mysterious ways sometimes and there’s no way of knowing for sure why she abandoned them, but there’s a variety of reasons why it could happen. It’s possible that the eggs were not fertile or they may not have been viable in the first place. She may have come to those conclusions and naturally left the nest. It could have been outside circumstances. It could have been wild creatures in the area, like coyotes or others that made her nervous and have convinced her that it’s in her best interest to abandon the nest for her own safety. There’s a number of reasons that this can happen. The good news is, when geese lose their eggs early on in the season, they will sometimes double clutch. So Lucy may have eggs yet again this season.

Cory: So she may either go back to that spot or find a new spot that she finds more appropriate?

Dale: It depends on her reasons and why she’s abandoned them. If it’s due to the encroachment of a predatory creature like a coyote, she might choose another spot. If they’re just simply not fertile or unviable, she might choose to nest there again.

Cory: People are finding themselves in a similar situation where they’ve got a goose nesting, maybe it’s near their home or their workplace. What are some of the things they should do to ease the situation for the goose?

Dale: Know that once the geese have established themselves, they are a protected species, so we’re obligated to leave them alone. The incubation period is one month so you have about a month to wait until the babies hatch, and once they hatch within a couple of days, they’re going to move along and follow mom to the nearest water. During that period when they’re nesting, they can do all the right things. They can put caution tape around it, give them the proper space that they need because geese can be quite protective of their young and you want to give them the space. You want to keep that stress down for them and allow them to be geese and just do what they do. It can be a little difficult for businesses sometimes if they’re right in front of your door or maybe you’re a homeowner and they’ve decided to nest on your deck, and you’re afraid to go out and barbecue because there’s a goose there. Just know it’s short lived. It only lasts a month and mark down the date on your calendar, because next year they’re likely to be back at the same time, and you can deter them before they start nesting. If you can drive them away before they start nesting, that’s a great way to mitigate that from happening again.

Cory: You’ve been getting a lot of calls on geese?

Dale: We have, yes. About 30 calls a day right now. Edmontonians are really invested in their geese and wildlife. We have this great green space and it runs through the cities, we’re teaming with wildlife. We’re getting a lot of calls specifically about male geese. They’re on their own, often they’re the sentries. Mom might be on top of a roof or somewhere 300 feet away, you don’t know where she is, and people are concerned with that lone goose because it’s not moving. This time of year, it’s typically a male watching and guarding the female. So the lone goose looks injured to people but it’s not injured at all. They’re just doing their job.

Cory: We were also talking about other animals and babies that you’ve had calls for and you have a great saying for hares.

Dale: We do. We love to say, “Find a baby hare, leave it there.” This time of year, mother hares are leaving their young to their own devices. That’s a natural process. That’s how they look after them. If you find them, be sure to contact Wild North before you pick them up, because accidental kidnappings have become a big problem. We’re getting young, young hares brought to us that don’t need to be. It’s happening every day at this point.