Mill Creek Park should act now to reduce goose overpopulation

Of all the spectacles nature has to offer in Mill Creek Park, perhaps the most impressive is when on early winter evenings, Canada geese wheel in for watery landings at the south end of partially frozen Lake Newport as they emit their loud cries in reply to those of welcoming geese already on the water.

But the scene is much less impressive some months later, when the large lawn area near where the lake’s boathouse once stood is just an expanse of weeds punctuated with goose drippings. (Fastidious grazers, the geese eschew the weeds but devour grass to the roots.)

Adding to the problem are park visitors who, ignoring signs reading “Keep Our Wildlife Wild, Do Not Feed” and often assisted by children, toss whole loaves of sliced bread, piece-by-piece, to the geese who excitedly flock to their cars as soon as the “nature lovers” arrive and begin their feeding. Waterfowl feeding is also common at the Lily Pond, and a bakery was even dumping its excess bagels and other breakfast fare there for awhile.

The surfeit of geese has been apparent at the park for years now, and one would think that the park management would have done something about it by now, as the geese do ruin lawn areas for picnicking, Frisbee tossing or just sunbathing. Is the park trying to save on mowing?

The problem is one common throughout the park, as the geese gather anywhere they can both feed and be close to water for refuge if threatened. In late spring at picnic areas near Lake Glacier, I have counted as many as 60 birds in flocks composed of both goslings and adults.

The trails around the nearby Lily Pond, frequented so often by parents with young children to observe the pond’s colorful carp and numerous turtles, is often made slippery by goose droppings.

The park’s flocks do decline in size as the season advances as the young geese take wing and head out to the local countryside. But the park is still home. They’ll be back to mate in the spring.

It’s no surprise that the area’s Canada geese, which are nonmigratory, are heavily represented in the annual Christmas bird count conducted by the local Audubon Club. The count covers a circular area with a 15-mile radius extending from a point in southern Mahoning County.

Nature’s answer to overpopulation is, of course, perdition. But there is little of this in Mill Creek Park, which is not to say that it doesn’t exist.

Two white domestic ducks released at the Lily Pond this past spring disappeared one by one. One occasionally sees geese hobbling about on one leg, with the other dangling uselessly as result of predator attacks. I recently saw several geese with mangled wings. These are the survivors.

Coyotes are probably the culprits in these attacks. Not long ago, a reddish-hued animal loped across the fairway on the park’s South Course as my son and I golfed. “Look, a fox,” called one of our playing partners, noticing the animal’s coloration. Since the animal was at least twice the size of a red fox, I quickly replied, “That’s no fox, that’s a coyote.” The animal’s size reminded me of the conjecture that eastern coyotes are part wolf.

If they are the predators, I do wish coyotes luck in trimming the numbers of Canada geese in Mill Creek Park.

Seriously though, I think that the park should do something about the Canada goose overpopulation, which detracts from the many natural and recreational attractions of what is the largest and probably the finest city park in the nation.

ROBERT R. STANGER

Boardman