Vernon not able to find contractors for goose management

VERNON — A program aimed at reducing the population of Canada geese in Vernon may be abandoned.

The City of Vernon changed it’s goose kill program in 2021 to a “kill to scare” method, which took effect in 2022.

The practice involves killing the dominant goose in a flock, causing other birds to disperse and leave the area in smaller groups.

Since the change was made, the city tried to recruit goose control management consultants and recognized experts in the field.

However, a staff report to Vernon city council said those contractors were either not interested, not willing to participate in the identified locations, or unavailable during the time frame outlined by the city.

In May of 2023, the city again issued a request for contractors to track and remove geese through the “kill to scare” program.

The expression of interest was posted to B.C. Bid, city websites and the city procurement portal ‘Bonfire,’ and while the documents were accessed 15 times, the report said no submissions were received by the closing date of June 1.

As the program has been unsuccessful for two years, Vernon council is recommended to abandon the “kill to scare” program.

Council will receive the report and vote on the staff recommendation at its regular meeting Monday, June 12.

The report also noted the City of Vernon is part of the Okanagan Valley Goose Management Program which does have an egg addling program. That program, which the report called “an important population management method created to managed introduced populations of non-migratory Canada geese” will not be affected by abandoning the “kill to scare” program.