Bridget Reed Morawski
After Montgomery Parks is done their job, someone’s goose will be cooked.
Actually, up to 300 geese will be cooked. In an effort to curb the oversized geese populations at two county parks, officials will be humanely euthanizing hundreds of geese and donating their meat to the Maryland Food Bank.
The roundup will occur at Martin Luther King, Jr. Recreational Park and Rock Creek Regional Park in Montgomery County. These particular parks have experienced the most issues with the birds in recent years.
The geese will be herded by park officials between the end of June and the beginning of July, when the birds will be molting their feathers and unable to fly away. However, park visitors will most likely not even realize that the cull is going on, as the actual euthanizing will occur off site.
“They might see us out there corralling the geese,” said David Petersen, a natural resources specialist with Montgomery Parks. “It will be visible. But in terms of any of the processing, that will all be done off site.”
A federal contractor will then take the flock to an off-site location, where they will be placed in a chamber and gassed with carbon monoxide. Anyone who consumes goose meat that was harvested via carbon monoxide poisoning should not fear any negative health effects, said Petersen.
While geese aren’t known for being the friendliest creatures, but their demeanor isn’t the reason for the cull.
The birds poop – a lot. This isn’t just an aesthetic issue, although it’s certainly reason enough to cull them for many people. But the poop creates environmental problems, primarily regarding the water quality of the nearest streams and lakes.
Water erosion and overgrazing of grassy areas are also problems that too many geese bring to an area. The land is damaged by hundreds of webbed feet as the hundreds of geese enter and exit the waterways, and subsequently feed on nearby grass.
The number of geese to be culled varies from season to season, and there isn’t a formula to base the roundup on.
“It’s not based on any real hard and fast number,” said Petersen. “It’s based on the level of damage that’s experienced. It’s also the amount of human tolerance as well, and that can vary quite widely.”
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