FOSTER CITY (KPIX 5) – A chaotic problem along the Foster City waterfront is turning into a health issue, forcing city guides to take a giant step towards controlling the local goose population.
Whether you’re waddling along the water or strolling through parks, Canada geese have found their home in Foster City.
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“I just see them as part of the overall landscape of our city,” said Ray Rosseau, longtime Foster City resident.
The city estimates that there are currently around 320 geese living there. The city council is now considering a plan to reduce this number.
Mayor Sanjay Gehani says the birds themselves are not the problem; it’s the feces they leave behind.
“It’s in our parks, it’s in our lagoon system near our beaches, it’s in our public sidewalks. We rolled up our children coming home from soccer practice in it. It’s a real challenge, ”he said. “It’s a regional issue that has been going on for quite some time.”
As the number of geese increases, so does the amount of droppings they leave behind. And Gehani says that is becoming a health problem.
“The water samples taken from the beaches show that E. coli is increasing, and one of the accelerators is goose droppings,” Gehani said.
For many years the leaders of Foster City tried to control the geese population. But the mayor says their various strategies no longer seem to be working.
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“From laying eggs to scaring the geese in different parts of the city, even regionally, to do so. But what we’re seeing is that the geese population is actually exploding, ”he said. “We assume that if we do nothing, they will continue to rise in the double-digit range.”
So they are now looking for a more drastic measure. The city plans to get a goose hunting permit that would allow them to control the population by catching and killing some of the geese.
“It was a really difficult decision for us to go in that direction. But I think we all here in the council put the health of our community first, ”said the mayor. “This is absolutely a final effort out of concern for the well-being of our children and the health and safety of our community.”
The idea has received mixed responses from locals.
“I don’t understand why we have to take such drastic measures,” said Rousseau. “They are beautiful animals and I think we should do our best to preserve them.”
“They do that with deer and other animals. I’m not saying that I’m in favor of this, but there is definitely a problem and not an easy answer, ”said Shawn Mooney, a local resident.
“The geese are a problem. But maybe we just have to live with it and be careful with our children, ”said Mary Connelly. “I think they should try other remedies. Killing them – it’s just not right. “
Nothing is set in stone yet, said the mayor. The city wants to get feedback from the population in the coming weeks and months. He says if they took this drastic step, it probably wouldn’t happen until mid-2022.
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“Although it is a challenge, we have to take it into account,” said Gehani. “We’re trying to control the population. We’re not trying to root it out. We are really trying to strike a balance between our community and the geese so that we can live together in harmony. “
