Canada geese thriving, blocking traffic in Fredericton
Gaggle of Canada geese blocks traffic, honks back at cars
Around two dozen Canada geese are thriving in a corner of the City of Fredericton and workers in the area are learning to live with them.
Parking lots and lawns in sections of Knowledge Park, the Corbett Centre and the Hugh John Flemming Forestry complex have been home to the birds for the past few years.
The gaggle has grown this year with the addition of several goslings in the spring.
Aaron Broad, a worker at Siemens in Knowledge Park, said there are at 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.
But no amount of honking — from either species — can speed up the traffic jam when the geese decide to cross.
"You have to wait for them when you're driving," said Broad.
"They'll just walk in front of you and take their time. They have no fear of the cars or anything. They're not aggressive, or afraid of us."
'It's pretty funny'
"They always seem to walk in single file, so sometime you have them blocking traffic for five or 10 minutes," 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."
Canada geese becoming urbanized is not uncommon in Fredericton.
There are populations in nearby New Maryland, and less than a kilometre away on the lawns of the Fredericton RCMP station.
Nic McLellan, the Atlantic 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 species that may be more prone to displacement," McLellan said.
"But like any wild animal you shouldn't approach them or feed them or do anything to make them more dependent on humans."
Growing geese numbers
In the 1990s, former premier Frank McKenna's Liberal government brought 3,500 Canada geese into the province from Toronto and Mississauga.
Those two cities were trying to thin their populations, so the New Brunswick government stepped in and tried to help.
While that boost in birds did contribute to a glut of geese in the years immediately following, McLellan said he doubts 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'
Broad said the birds leave behind "a lot of poop."
"But you just walk around it. It's not too bad today but some days it's a minefield."
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."
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