ODNR overseeing euthanasia of geese in Mill Creek Park today

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Several Mill Creek Park roads were closed to motor vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians at 12:01 a.m. today and will remain closed until noon today for euthanasia of geese, a park official said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture “will be humanely euthanizing some of the geese,” with the project to be overseen by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, said Samantha Villella, Mill Creek MetroParks community engagement director.

The closed roads are Memorial Hill, East Glacier, Lily Pond, Robinson Hill, West and West Glacier drives, according to a park news release.

In the past, park officials have used predator decoys and noisemakers to scare off geese, Villella said.

As an additional geese population-control measure, park officials continue to addle the eggs of geese under an ODNR permit, Villella said.

In that process, they make the eggs of geese non-viable by puncturing them with 3-inch nails.

“They have a nuisance issue with geese in the park,” said Laura Graber, the Akron-based ODNR wildlife research technician who issued the permit for the early morning roundup and euthanasia of geese and goslings.

This is the first time for this activity in Mill Creek Park, but such roundups have been done elsewhere in Ohio, she said.

John Paul Seman, a Poland-based assistant USDA district supervisor, said the geese and goslings were to be be captured, placed in a chamber and euthanized with carbon dioxide gas, according to American Veterinary Medical Association guidelines.