Volunteers Sought to Help Solve Cupertino's Goose Poop Problem

Tired of dodging goose poop in Cupertino’s Memorial Park? Then join the volunteer goose poop patrol and learn to addle eggs in a two-hour training session on March 15.

Long the nemesis of park-goers the pesky Canada geese are about to meet their match in a webbed approach to goose control launched by the City of Cupertino. The first wing of the program includes nest identification and egg addling, a process that prevents eggs from hatching and geese from laying more eggs. The idea is to prevent the goose population from growing, something that has been happening for years.

“These geese are a nuisance and these geese are a hazard. It is disgraceful to have our children walking through goose poop,” Councilmember Rod Sinks said at an August council meeting.

The training, which will be held at Shoreline Park in Mountain View on March 15 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., is based on recommendations by wildlife experts at the U.S. Humane Society, according to Sinks, who led the charge against the geese and their plentiful poop.

Some 262 Canada geese were counted in Memorial Park one day, Sinks said.

“(Geese) poop between two and three pounds every day. Now multiply 262 by that and they’re putting over 500 pounds of lovely excrement all over the lawn,” he said.

Geese lay eggs between March and early May. Egg addling is a process that involves rubbing oil on eggs then returning them to their nests. The oil blocks oxygen into the shell, and returning the egg to the nest prevents the bird from wanting to lay another egg.

The second flight of the program takes over in early May and involves hiring trained dogs that will herd and chase the geese elsewhere. The trained dogs will be laid off, so to speak, at the end of June when geese begin to molt and cannot fly again until August.

Year round there is an anti-feeding ordinance in place that the council adopted that include fees for violations. If caught violators will have to reach into a different kind of breadbasket to pay for fines that begin at $50 for the first offence, $100 for the second, and the third and thereafter will cost $200 each.

Cupertino’s City Council and staff joined together in a Goose Summit with other municipalities and agencies in the area also faced with the same problem to discuss best practices.

Canada Geese are protected under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, which makes it unlawful to harm or kill a bird or its nest without permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

To sign up for nest identification and egg addling training click here.

Read more about the program Cupertino will be following at at http://www.geesepeace.com/.  

Other Cupertino Patch articles on Canada geese can be found here:

Trained Dogs will be Hired to Chase Pooping Geese in Cupertino Parks

Feeders of Geese Beware: Fines Headed Your Way

A Poopy Agenda for Cupertino City Council Tuesday