Spring brings big honkin' mess of Canada geese — and calls for smarter population control

At this time of year, you can count on two things in Vancouver: branches drooping with cherry blossoms — and urban parks filled with honking Canada geese, leaving trails of droppings as they waddle about.

Ah, spring. 

By day's end, one gander — pooping every 10 to 20 minutes — can produce a pile of feces as heavy as a cabbage.

But Vancouver is just one city grappling with the controversial headache of how to manage growing populations of the protected bird.

Conservationists would prefer people give the birds space to nest, make the landscape less attractive to them or consider giving them birth control. Meanwhile, wildlife technicians use a variety of techniques, from egg switching to scaring the birds with predators, to deal with the messy gaggles gathering in populated spots.

"Geese are everywhere in this city," said Dana McDonald, environmental stewardship co-ordinator, for Vancouver's board of parks and recreation.

And sometimes there are conflicts.

"If provoked or chased Canada geese can bite, especially now when they are defending their nests," said McDonald.

It's estimated that close to seven million Canada geese inhabit North America, based on data from the Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Technical Committee, but it's unclear exactly how many of the hard-to-tally migratory birds actually inhabit Canada for part of the year.

Each year, the federal government approves hundreds of permits for culling and using predators to scare away the geese. About a million birds are also harvested each year, which requires a hunting permit.

Despite this, Vancouver's Canada goose population is teeming. The geese were reintroduced in the 1970s, after years of overhunting. Many of the "resident geese" don't migrate far and so they get well-fed, despite $500 city fines for wildlife feeding.

Vancouver's urban geese gobble grass seed, damage irrigation systems and defecate on memorial benches.

So, wildlife technicians switch out viable goose eggs for frozen duds — a process called egg addling.

Hoping to target eggs this April, the Vancouver parks board began asking people to report any nests they find, which can often be spotted around nearby homes or even on roofs.