By Greg Ellison

(Nov. 12, 2020) Looking to encourage humane treatment of resident Canada geese propagating at the South Gate Pond, the Ocean Pines Environmental and Natural Assets Committee is proposing enhanced signs to discourage people from feeding the growing flock.

Environmental Chairman Ken Wolf said the committee has developed language to outline the importance of avoiding altering dietary habits for wildlife.

“I sent the script for the sign we would like that goes into all the reasons not to feed the geese,” he said.

Wolf said the advisory committee is hoping the OPA will concur with the suggestion.

“We will try to get Ocean Pines to make the signs and will post them at the pond,” he said.

The language recommended by the Environmental Committee asks to “help conserve wildlife in their natural habitat.”

The text also states, “feeding geese, ducks and wild animals can cause the following harmful effects: overcrowding, poor nutrition, spread of disease, unnatural behavior, pollution, delayed migration, safety concerns and dependency on humans.”

Canada geese, nests and eggs, are protected under federal law by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits capturing or killing except during legal hunting seasons.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources attributes the increase of non-migratory Canada geese in the region to the release of decoy flocks and stocking programs conducted during the 1930s.

The DNR website states the first recorded Canada goose stocking in the state took place in 1935, when more than 40 were transplanted to Dorchester County’s Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, which was created just two years earlier.

Wolf said the educational campaign is intended to teach the public that feeding waterfowl does more harm than good.

“I’m harming the geese by feeding them, not helping,” he said. “The goal is to educate people to that fact.”

Wolf said in the long term one likely means to reduce the presence of geese at the South Gate Pond would be to refrain from manicuring grass and bushes located just offshore.

“The geese want to get out of the water and be able to walk on land,” he said.

Wolf said undergrowth that blocks pathways from ponds or other water bodies typically raise the specter of hidden predators, which tends to discourage grazing by geese flocks.

“That’s the overall solution, because if you do that, the geese will not stay there,” he said. “If you let the grass grow, then the geese go away.”