By David Tyler
The Canada geese at Ryder Park in DeWitt have their days numbered.
On Monday, the town board voted to participate in a USDA goose management program. The hope is that between 40 and 60 geese will be trapped at the park and then killed. The meat from the geese will be donated to food pantries.
Supervisor Ed Michalenko said that overpopulation has disrupted the migratory patterns for Canada geese, and most of the geese that are in Central New York are a year-round population.
“There are very few that migrate,” Michalenko said. “It won’t be long until they get tremendously burdensome.”
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has a target population of 85,000 Canada geese in the state. A DEC survey in the spring of 2017 showed a population of about 238,000 geese.
On Monday, there were no geese at Ryder Park around midday, but there was plenty of evidence that they had been there in large numbers. Goose droppings were prevalent all around the pond and in the grassy areas near the playground.
The trapping will take place early in the morning when there are no visitors to the park. There is no cost to the town.
