Could Maine Officials Begin Killing Nuisance Geese With Carbon Monoxide Gas?

It's no surprise that, especially in the warmer months, Maine is home to a large population of Canadian Geese. At first glance, they are majestic-looking birds that love to be in large areas, particularly near bodies of water.

However, these same geese can also pose major problems and become a literal nuisance for some towns. They oftentimes show up in such large numbers that the poop they leave behind can wreak havoc on grassy areas and in small ponds.

This morning while reading news from all around the Northeast, I found an interesting (and quite controversial) story coming out of Peapack, New Jersey. I was reading from our sister-station, NJ 101.5, that the town in Jersey just approved a measure that would allow wildlife officials to round up a large herd of Canadian Geese and then kill them using carbon monoxide gas.

Despite dozens of community members protesting the practice at a recent City Council meeting, the town still decided to approve the measure citing 'desperation' to solve the problem.

NJ officials say that the geese are close to causing irreparable damage to an area park because of the sheer amount of feces being deposited there daily. The mass roundup and execution of the birds is set to take place next month when the geese can no longer fly, NJ 1015 reported.

So that leads me to my initial question- Will Maine follow suit and do the same thing to large flocks of 'nuisance' geese? Well, with approval from a township, sure. However, a quick Google search didn't bring anything of the sort up.

According to WildLifeHelp.Org,

Non-lethal techniques can be effective, particularly if several different methods are used in concert, and at the appropriate time. However, except for habitat modification, most of the available non-lethal methods are only temporarily effective.

So, at least for now, geese in Maine look like they'll be safe from a toxic gassing, however the geese in New Jersey will almost-certainly face upcoming demise.