A cull of Canada geese in the Town of Oliver is expected to continue.
The Town’s Goose Management Program at Tucelnuit Lkae and the Oliver Airport started back in 2010 and staff is recommending that the program continue for the 2018-19 season with six permits to be issued.
“If Oliver continues with the program, it keeps the momentum of the previous years of work in keeping the reduction of geese,” said director of operations Sean Goodsell, in a staff report prepared in advance of Monday’s meeting of Oliver Council.
Permitted hunters are required to provide references related to their hunting experience and expertise.
The hunters approved for the program are responsible for complying with all applicable regulations, including the requirement to obtain permission from the owner of any occupied building within 100 metres of the location where shooting will take place, said Goodsell’s report.
Hunters must then provide the Town with the number of Canada Geese killed and location.
The RCMP will be advised who the permit holders are and local residents will be notified about this program through media advertising.
There is no fee for the permits and no compensation paid to the permit holders for any expenses, said Goodsell’s report.
Permit holders are also responsible for showing proof of liability insurance coverage in the amount of $2 million, as well as their current hunting licence and picture identification.
The Town of Oliver will continue to contribute $2,000 annually to the regional Goose Addling Program, payable to the City of Kelowna.
The program to try and control urban Canada geese in Oliver dates back to 2010 and the cull has been concentrated at Tucelnuit Lake and the airport as these two years are environmentally attractive for large numbers of geese to congregate, said the report.
“The resident Canada geese nesting and molting in our community are likely descendants of captured migratory Canada geese that were likely used as live decoys in the past,” said the report. “Geese must nest in the area where they were born. Migrating geese nest in northern Canada.
“Therefore, we have a steadily growing population of geese that contributed to the public’s concerns of goose feces at Tucelnuit Lake and the water quality warnings of the public and private beach areas.”
Since the beginning of the program, there has been an average of six permits issued per season and the result has been a reduction in the number of Canada geese at both the lake and airport.
Over the past five years, the average number of geese killed has averaged around 20.
The feedback from permit holders is the geese are “getting wise” to the guns and are finding alternate places to congregate, which is the goal of the program, said the report.
Ceasing the program would negate the impact of what has been achieved over the past eight years, said the report.
“It has been several years since we have received any complaints from the public that lends credence to the continuation of the program,” said the report.
