Geese, your

goose is cooked.

The U.S. Fish

and Wildlife Service is is considering giving state wildlife agencies

more flexibility in controlling Canada goose populations, a problem Peachtree

City experienced in early summer when nearly 100 of the meddlesome foul

were rounded up from Picnic Park behind City Hall and shipped off.

Under the plan,

the federal agency would turn over the day-to-day decision making responsibility

of dealing with booming geese populations, though not entirely.

In the case

of Peachtree City's goose drama, it would have meant the population of

birds would have been removed or at least thinned much earlier if allowed

to take up residence at all.

"The geese

that were taken from here had their wings clipped, so it would be impossible

for them to return here in the next year or so, after which they

will hopefully

be acclimated to their new home south of Macon and not want to return

here," said Randy Gaddo, leisure services director for Peachtree

City. "Thereare other Canada geese still around, and I know that

several homeowners associations have asked for contact information for

the USDA people we had here. I am assuming that other private elimination

efforts will result."

Until now,

local agencies were pretty much prohibited from doing anything that might

threaten or injure the birds. Once considered at risk, they have in recent

years begun reproducing in record numbers. Plus, this new generation of

geese has forgotten how to migrate to Canada,instead choosing to spend

year round down south, where ample water, food and friendly hand-outs

have turned them into honking, obnoxious guests who just won't take a

hint and leave.

So the fish

and wildelife service is considering some much stronger "hints."

For example:

Aggressive

harassment.

Nest destruction.

Gosling and

adult trapping and culling programs.

Increased

hunter harvest.

Permission

to take during a portion of the closed hunting season.

Stricter control

for the protection of airport safety, agriculture, and public health.

The take of

nests and eggs without permits.

Presently,

State Fish and Wildlife agencies or their authorized agents, such as the

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services division, need a Federal

permit issued by the Service to control resident Canada geese. This rule

would provide for opportunities to eliminate the need for most individual

permits for resident Canada goose control activities.

"We joke

about it, but when these birds mass together in areas also frequented

humans, especially young children," Gaddo said. "For that reason,

I believe we need to have a full range of options available to address

the problem. We would always try less aggressive measures first and only

use the highest level of options as a last resort."

Sending the

Canada geese packing has had an unexpected, but pleasant, result in Peachtree

City.

"We are

seeing more of the white domestic ducks and geese, as well as more mallards"

in Picnic Park now, said Gaddo. "We surmise that the Canada geese

chased off the domestic types and smaller mallards, and now that they

are gone, the domestics and mallards have clear reign."

Of course,

it doesn't help that people still continue to feed the ducks right there

at the picnic shelter and playground, Gaddo said. Feeding of wildlife

is against city ordinances, and residents are asked to resist the temptation.

Resident Canada

geese stay in the same general area, and no evidence documents breeding

between resident Canada geese and migratory Canada geese that nest in

northern Canada and Alaska.

The Service

and the States estimate current resident Canada goose population at 3.2

million in the United States, about 30 percent to 35 percent above the

number States believe to be acceptable based on their need to manage conflicts

and problems caused by excessive numbers of resident Canada geese. Resident

Canada goose populations will be monitored annually.

The rapid rise

of resident Canada goose populations has been attributed to a number of

factors.

Most resident

Canada geese live in temperate climates with relatively stable breeding

habitat conditions and low numbers of predators.They tolerate human and

other disturbances, have a relative abundance of preferred habitat (such

as mowed grass in urban/suburban areas), and fly relatively short distances

for winter compared with other Canada goose populations. The virtual absence

of waterfowl hunting in urban areas provides additional protection to

those portions of the resident Canada goose population, wildlife officials

point out.