TURF talk
Teresa Carson
Taking the bait
'Body of water + low-cut grass = fast food for geese.'
-
Erick Wolf, CEO, Innolytics LLC
QUESTION: Are there any new options for controlling Canada geese?
They are becoming a nuisance on the golf course.
ANSWER: 1\5 improbable as it may seem today, the Canada goose population for all
of North America was only 1.1 million in the late 1940s. Thanks to protective measures,
the Canada goose population throughout North America has grown to nearly 6 million.
Without any control, the population of Canada geese can double every five years.
What's good for the goose may not be good for golf courses. Growing populations
of resident Canada geese - geese that do not migrate - often create havoc in the urban
landscape, damaging grass and other vegetation, polluting ponds, spreading disease and
annoying, and sometimes actually endangering, the humans who cross their path. Over
the years, a number of strategies have been used to reduce Canada goose populations or
to discourage them from remaining in a particular place, including noise from firecrackers and cannons, bright lights at night, various chemical deterrents and harassment by
speedboats. Most of these measures have been effective to some degree.
Erick Wolf, CEO ofInnolytics LLC, has an alternative, a bait that is essentially goose
birth control. Innolytics LLC developed the product, which has been tested extensively
by the USDA Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service's National Wildlife Research
Center in Fort Collins, Colo. The EPA has not yet granted registration to the product,
OvoControl, but approval could be around the corner.
28
GeM
July 2005
OvoControl contains the active ingredient nicarbazin, which has been used for
more than 50 years to control disease in
chickens but has the side effect of reducing egg hatchability. However, a negative
side effect in chickens might be considered
positive in birds that have become wildlife
pests, such as Canada geese and pigeons.
But how do you treat birds in the wild
or wild birds on a golf course?
OvoControl is a bait similar in appearance
and texture to a bread ball, which makes it
attractive to Canada geese. Baiting occurs
only during the breeding season and
should begin 14 days before nesting or at
least seven days before the first egg is laid.
The bait is delivered (often by an automated feeder) daily at dawn so that the resident birds can consume the required
25- 50-gram daily dosage. Any leftover bait
should be removed after the birds have finished feeding. The company recommends
an eight-week baiting program.
The birds need to consume the recommended dosage of bait for at least five to
seven days before blood levels of nicarbazin
are high enough to affect egg hatchability.
Nicarbazin will remain in the bird's system
for about seven days after the bird has
stopped eating the bait. Birds that have
ingested the bait will most likely still lay
eggs, but the eggs will not hatch, so the
population will gradually decline. The
effects of the bait on the geese are reversible.
Wolf says that studies have shown
OvoControl is not harmful to mammals
and aquatic wildlife and plants. Many
birds are unwilling or unable to eat the
bait or do not occur in the same habitat as
Canada geese. Only a few birds on the
endangered species list could be affected
by bait consumption, so bait use will probably be restricted in those habitat areas. If
the EPA approves OvoControl, it will be
a restricted-use pesticide.
Numerous
conservationist
groups
including the Audubon
Society, the
Humane Society of the United States,
GeesePeace and the Coalition to Prevent
the Destruction of Canada Geese support
appropriate use of OvoControl
as a
humane means of controlling the population without harming existing birds.
Contact Teresa Carson at [email protected].