OWL commonly receives calls from property owners regarding the destruction and mess Canada geese cause. The main cause of this situation is very simply the feeding of the geese by people! The number of eggs laid (normal clutch size is 3-5 eggs) is directly proportional to the amount of food available and the time geese spend in a given area. A particular habitat has only enough food for a certain number of animals. If enjoyed from afar and not fed by people, geese will migrate out of an area, moving on to new habitat where food is more abundant.

Another good reason to avoid feeding geese is for their own protection - to ensure they retain their fear of humans. You may not pose a threat to their survival, but if they do not fear ALL humans, they are bound to run in to an unfriendly one sooner or later.

The best reason to refrain from feeding geese is that the foods commonly used, such as bread and french fries, are nutritionally inadequate and cause serious, potentially deadly impactions of the crop. Geese don't know when to stop eating, and the large quantity and the low quality of food combines to create disastrous results. Most of the time they die or have to be euthanized because by the time we receive them the damage is irreversible.