The City of Vernon has chosen to abandon a goose population management strategy after a search for contractors came up empty.
In 2021, city council switched from a goose cull to a ‘kill-to-scare’ program, which took effect last year. The kill-to-scare program involves killing the dominant goose in a flock to deter other birds from returning to the area.
The city was looking to deploy the program in several areas that geese frequent, including Paddlewheel Park, Kin Beach, Lakeshore Park, Marshall Fields and Polson Park.
In May, the city sought expressions of interest from contractors to track and remove geese through a kill-to-scare program. The expression of interest was posted to BC Bid, the city’s website and the city’s procurement portal.
However, according to a staff report to city council, no submissions from contractors were received by the June 1 deadline.
“Contractors were not interested, not willing to participate at the locations indicated, or unavailable for the duration of time that was needed for the City of Vernon program,” reads a report from parks and public spaces manager Kendra Kryszak.
Therefore city council unanimously voted to end the kill-to-scare goose program for potential goose management.
Asked by Coun. Kari Gares what the next steps would be – as the city continues to have a goose problem – Kryszak said she’d get feedback from dog control in regards to putting dogs off- and on-leashes at goose-problem beaches, Marshall Field and Polson Park.
Kryszak also said the city’s addling program continues from mid-May to September, and that grass is cleaned of goose droppings three times a week by a contractor.
Mayor Victor Cumming motioned successfully to have staff investigate other goose cull options and report back to council.
The report notes that Vernon is part of the Okanagan Valley Goose Management Program, which is a partnership between numerous cities and regional districts in the valley. The egg addling program started in early April and continued through to mid-May. The report says egg addling is an important method for managing goose populations.
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