Since geese euthanasia, Mill Creek has issued dozens of citations, warnings,tickets

YOUNGSTOWN

Mill Creek MetroParks officials have continued nonlethal geese- management strategies, and don’t intend to apply for another geese roundup and euthanasia permit next June, park officials said.

“The MetroParks has been actively performing Canada goose management for many years, and we continue to do so,” said Kirsten Peetz, MetroParks’ natural resources manager.

Three months since the June 26 roundup and euthanasia of 238 geese at the Lily Pond, Lake Glacier and the Newport Wetlands, park police have written six tickets and issued four warnings to violators of the park rule against feeding wildlife, said Lt. Randy Campana of the MetroParks police.

Park police issued the first citation July 2 at the Lily Pond, but, by then, they had issued 66 warnings, mostly oral, for feeding wildlife since the park launched an anti-feeding public awareness campaign in the spring of 2013, according to James Willock, MetroParks police chief.

Since June 26, six new signs telling park visitors not to feed wildlife have been posted at mirror pond, on the west sides of Lakes Glacier and Cohasset and at the Newport Wetlands.

Wildlife experts discourage feeding waterfowl because it encourages many birds to congregate in a small area, thereby causing unsanitary conditions.

A dog continues to harass geese at the Wick Recreation Area; facility managers have pyrotechnics for use as needed to scare geese away; and the park continues to evaluate opportunities to change habitats in places where geese cause damage or congregate in large numbers, Peetz said.

Among the habitat modifications suggested by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources are planting tall vegetation along lake and pond shores to discourage geese from congregating there and planting less palatable grasses, such as tall fescue, which has a bitter taste.

“The result of the goose roundup was what we were expecting. We have reduced the number of geese in the three targeted areas, which has created a more manageable population, and the wildlife feeding by the public has decreased noticeably,” said Dennis Miller, MetroParks executive director.

Lynsey White Dasher, director of humane wildlife conflict resolution for the Humane Society of the United States, said she’s not satisfied with the park’s efforts.

“They have many of the necessary elements for a humane program, but they’re not applying them correctly or at the right time,” Dasher said.

The park’s plan says it harasses geese during nesting season, she said.

“You never want to harass geese during nesting season because the geese will move somewhere else to nest, and it will be harder to find their nests,” she explained.

Dasher also faulted the park for not using a specially-

trained dog.

Read more about the problem in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.