Why Winter Harassment Of Urban Canada Geese Doesn’t Make Them Go Away

Canada geese that left a Chicago park returned twice as quickly when harassed, compared with days when they left of their own accord

A flock of Canada geese, Branta canadensis, gathers on the snow covered ground at Montrose Harbor with a view of Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline in the background. GETTY

What should we do with all the geese? Canada geese, Branta canadensis, populations have exploded throughout Illinois, growing from an estimated 70,000 birds in 1997 to about 120,000 today. They are widely viewed as a nuisance: aircraft sometimes collide with them (remember Miracle on the Hudson?), they boldly intimidate joggers who get too close to their nests in springtime, and everywhere they go, they fertilize all those carefully tended lawns in parks, golf course greens, ball fields, airport infields and other green spaces by leaving behind prodigious piles of poop — a pound or more per bird per day.