File photo by Charlene Sharpe

BERLIN – Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture removed 290 Canada geese from the community last week.

Ocean Pines Association (OPA) officials announced on Friday that the homeowners association had contracted with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service’s Wildlife Services for the removal of resident Canada geese. The geese, which were primarily collected around the community’s ponds, were humanely euthanized and donated to the Maryland Food Bank.

“All we’re trying to do is stop the pollution,” said Marty Clarke, a member of OPA’s Environment and Natural Assets Advisory Committee. “The pond filters to the creek and the creek filters to the bay.”

According to Clarke, a longtime resident and former member of OPA’s board of directors, the advisory committee has recommended removal of the growing number of resident Canada geese for at least the past three years.

“We should’ve done it two years ago,” he said. “We just didn’t. Finally the board pulled their big boy pants up and realized there’s no choice.”

At one time, Clarke said the association had resident Canada geese removed regularly by USDA. The last time the issue came up, however, members of the public objected.

“The last time, people went bananas,” Clarke said. “When I was on the board of directors I had my life threatened. Some people just don’t get it.”

He said the association had tried to manage the goose population through non-lethal methods—addling eggs, not mowing the grass, using canine decoys—but had no success.

“We tried everything,” Clarke said. He praised the current board of directors for bringing in USDA to remove the birds.

“They should be congratulated for having the backbone to do what needed to be done,” he said.

While OPA did not provide an exact figure for the cost of the service, $15,000 was included in the contract services portion of the public works department’s budget for “wildlife control.”

According to Tanya Espinosa, a public affairs specialist with USDA, the number of resident Canada geese—those that breed and nest in the United States—increased from 230,000 to 3.89 million from 1970 to 2009.

“Canada geese are beautiful waterfowl and their resurgence is a conservation success story,” Espinosa said. “Generally problems arise when their numbers or density has increased in an area that is incompatible.”

Problems include overgrazing, accumulation of droppings, attacks on humans and fouling of waterways. According to Espinosa, each Canada goose deposits between half a pound and 1 pound of feces per day.

“In comparison, an average size dog drops about ½ pound, which responsible owners clean up,” Espinosa said.

She said the USDA’s Wildlife Services (WS) division helped manage damage related to Canada geese.

“As part of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services’ mission is to safeguard agricultural and other resources,” she said. “WS responds to local requests for assistance in wildlife-damage concerns while considering the best interests of wildlife as a whole.”

When asked whether relocation of the birds was considered, Espinosa said Maryland did not allow relocation of Canada geese.

According to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) website, goose translocation has been conducted in the past.

“However, there are no longer sites in the state at which geese can be released without creating additional nuisance problems,” the website reads. “Furthermore, opportunities for out-of-state transfer have been virtually exhausted as resident goose flocks now occur throughout the United States and Canada. Thus, the Maryland DNR no longer authorizes the capture and relocation of Canada geese.”

The website goes on to state that relocation is less effective than removal because the birds often return to the locations they were initially captured.