Canada geese thriving, blocking traffic in Fredericton

Around two dozen Canadageese arethriving in a corner of the City of Frederictonand workers in the area are learning to live with them.

Parking lots and lawns in sections ofKnowledgePark, the CorbettCentreand the Hugh John Flemming Forestry complex have been home tothebirds for the past few years.

The gaggle has grown this year with the addition of several goslings in thespring.

AaronBroad, a worker atSiemens in Knowledge Park, said there areat least two families of geese.

"It was nice in the spring when they had all their babies here and there was all different ages. The babies had trouble with the curbs, so it was fun watching them learn to get over them," he said.

It's all part of the daily goose commute, which sees the families march across busy streets, through shopping areas and across parking lots.

Butno amount of honking from either speciescan speed up the traffic jamwhen the geesedecide to cross.

"You have to wait for them when you're driving,"said Broad.

"They'll just walk in front of youand take their time. They have no fear of the cars or anything.They're not aggressive, or afraid of us."

'It's pretty funny'

Gaggle of geese slowly overwhelming Fredericton Knowledge Park

8 years ago

Duration 0:44

No amount of honking - from either species - can speed up traffic delays caused when the birds decide to cross. the Knowledge Park.Caleb Smith, who also works in the Knowledge Park, said he sees the geese everywhere.

"They always seem to walk in single file, so sometime you have them blocking traffic for five or 10minutes," he said.

"It's pretty funny,but other than that they don't bother anyone too much.But you do have to watch where you step."

Canadageese becoming urbanizedis not uncommon in Fredericton.

There arepopulations in nearby New Maryland, and less than a kilometreaway on the lawns of the Fredericton RCMP station.

NicMcLellan, theAtlantic science co-ordinator with Ducks Unlimited, said the geese are surviving because they are adaptable.

"They seem to deal well with urban environments compared with other waterfowl species and other bird speciesthat maybe more prone to displacement," McLellan said.

"But like any wild animalyou shouldn't approach them or feed themor do anything to make them moredependenton humans."

Growing geese numbers

The cause of the growing geese population is up for debate.

In the 1990s, former premierFrank McKenna's Liberal government brought 3,500 Canada geese into the provincefrom Toronto and Mississauga.

Those two cities weretrying to thin their populations, so the New Brunswick government stepped in and triedto help.

While that boost in birds did contribute to a glut of geese in the years immediately following, McLellansaid hedoubts it's the cause behind these recent populations.

"It may have contributed some, but I think geese have been growing in numbers in the U.S. and in New England and spreading northward," said McLellan.

"So it's probably a combination of a number of aspects like that."

'A lot of poop'

One sticky issue that everyone in the area notices is the abundance of waterfowlwaste.

Broad said the birds leave behind "a lot of poop."

"But you just walk around it. It's not too bad today but somedays it's aminefield."

Smith said his co-workers refer to the goose droppings as "mines."

But he said the amount of bird poop could be a lot worse.

"But it's not like they are flying around so it stays on the ground and not on your car," he said.

"So it's not an issue where we'd have to get anyone to take care of them or anything."