DEAR WISCONSIN, PLEASE DON’T KILL THE CANADA GEESE, PLEASE LET THEM LIVE

Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”.

There is a different way, a better way, a more humane and cost-effective way, to control your Canada Geese population. It might take a little bit of work and results might take a bit longer but saving lives is worth it and the solution is permanent. It is practiced throughout Canada and it does control the geese humanely. Please read https://www.animalalliance.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Goose_Manual-Habitat-Modification.pdf). 

To summarize this article, the geese are here because we have recreated their ideal habitat; mowed lawns with long sightlines next to open water. This is not typical of a natural Wisconsin lake area which is why the population growth of geese is a recent phenomenon. If residents continue to create these ideal environments for Canada Geese, the geese will continue to come. The above article describes how the landscape can be modified to make it unattractive to Canada Geese thus solving the problem on a long-term basis without the need to kill the geese every few years.

 The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has approved state wide geese gassing using carbon dioxide. So far as has been determined it is believed that as many as thirty municipalities have applied for the permits to date. Only three locations are publicly known. They are 1) Twin Lakes WI; 2) City of Oconomowoc WI and; 3) Mondovi WI. 

Many municipalities in Wisconsin have plans to decrease the Canada Goose population with the help of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) by gathering the geese along with their babies during the months of June and July and gassing them to death. 

The USDA’s abusive round up; dividing the geese from their families, caging them, and gassing them with carbon dioxide, is about to happen anytime now. And it will use taxpayer dollars for its work. The time and location of the USDA’s culls are usually kept secret from tax payers to avoid witnesses. This is wasted tax money with no public oversight. There are more humane and cost-effective methods to control the geese. Experience has shown that other geese will move in into the area after the cull because people have not changed the environment that is attractive to the geese, thus necessitating more tax dollars being used to kill the new geese.   It seems our governmental officials are not taking advantage of the knowledge available to resolve their constituents concerns without destroying native, beautiful and useful animals.  Instead of educating our citizens on how not to create ideal conditions for the geese, the officials approve culls which will not solve the problem in the in the following years. The only way to permanently solve and eliminate this problem is by habitat modification. It is the people who are creating these conditions that are creating the problem.

After Canada Geese nest, the geese undergo an annual feather molt which is a four-week flightless period when they shed and regrow their outer wing feathers. Molting occurs between mid-June and late July and this is when the USDA kills the Canada Geese, mother, father and babies. It is easy to round them up during this period because the geese usually congregate on ponds or lakes and can’t fly. 

Gassing the Geese with carbon dioxide is not humane.  Animals that are forced into such gas chambers experience fear and suffocation. This is no way to treat an animal whose primary offense is producing feces. It is inhumane and very sad. The geese travel hundreds of miles northward to favored molting areas not knowing they will be gassed and killed.

 The only crime the Canada Geese commit is to poop. Should pooping warrant a death sentence? Many residents / businesses / tourism related entities are upset that the  geese are is producing too many feces in areas populated by people. Among the other outrageous allegations being made are that the geese make too much noise, and eat too much grass from the lawns. Instead of handling the situation in a humane manner many are calling for a cheap and quick fix by destroying / gassing the geese, their families (geese have mates for life) and their young. 

This death sentence is not only supported by some Wisconsin residents, vacation home owners, businesses, and tourist towns (Wisconsin has a huge tourism industry) but also by many out of state individuals who own vacation home property. Twin Lakes Wi has applied for a permit to have the geese rounded up and gassed. The killing is strongly supported by lake front summer home property owners, the vast majority of whom come from Chicago and Chicago suburban areas.

All this killing so certain people can make their Wisconsin lake home look just like their suburban yard in Chicago rather than like a natural Wisconsin lake shore would look. 

In the mean time please keep calling and emailing the following people and organizations asking them politely to please consider implementing more humane methods of controlling the geese.

Town of Twin Lakes

Village Hall 262-877-2858

Elected Official Contact Information: All Officials listed were responsible for approving the cull of the Canada Geese

Board Member Phone Number Email Address

President Howard Skinner 262-877-2858 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  

Trustee Sharon Bower 262-448-1022 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Trustee Tom Connolly 262-877-3580 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Trustee Kevin Fitzgerald 262-208-9772 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Trustee Aaron Karo 262-877-4111 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Trustee Jeremy Knoll 262-206-2324 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Trustee Barbara Andres 262-960-0194 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

City of Oconomowoc

Joe Birbaum  -  Village President     262-567-5301      This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.               

Donald G Weimer - City Administrator 262-567-5301  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

City of Mondovi 

 Treig E. Pronschinske-Mayor715-926-3866   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Please ask all your friends worldwide and most importantly your Wisconsin friends to contact the above authorities implore them to call off the Canada Geese cull. Let’s all help make and keep Wisconsin humane. 

“Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings” – Oscar Hammerstein II