Mamaroneck Geese Inching Closer to Freedom

With the fate of Mamaroneck's geese in their hands, the Board of Trustees met with United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) representative Ken Preusser last night in an attempt to give the birds a stay of execution.

In last week's board meeting, Trustee Ilissa Miller spoke in favor of modifying the USDA contract to include non-lethal methods of controlling the goose population.  

Representatives from the USDA are scheduled to begin the process of egg oiling—dipping goose eggs in oil to prevent the embryo from developing—the week of April 15. In May, the USDA will survey the area to see if the oiling was successful.

Though Preusser said the technique might be able to stabilize the number of geese currently in the village, "egg oiling alone won't reduce the local population of geese."

He cited methods utilized by other New York State communities to control populations including hunting geese during a specified time period.

But Preusser seemed unconvinced that non-lethal methods would be effective.  He said that hazing would only drive birds up to three miles away, and could cause them to lay eggs in out-of-the way locations, making egg oiling less effective.

"If you choose to go the non-lethal route, it'll be much less cost effective," he said.

With the majority of the trustees against the killing of geese, the board agreed to let the USDA continue with the egg oiling as planned—the first part of the contract—with the understanding that the village attorney would engage the USDA in further talks to amend the contract's language as it refers to slaughter.

Westchester4Geese founder Kiley Blackman said she was happy that the village had decided to reconsider.

"It's looking good—we had known they were on board," she said, adding, "We prefer oiling...addling can produce full-term goslings that are born with mutations." Addling is a method by which the egg is removed from the nest, embryo development is terminated and the egg is returned to the nest so that the goose thinks the egg is still viable.

Blackman said she will continue to be in contact with village officials regarding the finalized USDA contract.