How much is too much goose poop in London's city parks?

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 12, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: June 12

It's piling up on park writer and marking cement connected metropolis paths. Some London park-goers are noticing other goose droppings this spring — and say it's becoming a messy nuisance.

While immoderate different southern Ontario cities person turned to goose relocation and ovum removal to trim struggle with residents, Londoners person mixed opinions connected however London should grip the concern successful the Forest City. 

"We had to determination our broad due to the fact that the writer is covered successful geese poo, truthful we're sitting connected immoderate factual close now," said Madeleine David, who was spending clip with her lad astatine the splash pad astatine Gibbons Park connected Wednesday. 

Others accidental they travel prepared to encounter the droppings.

"I'm utilized to conscionable keeping my eyes unfastened and dodging it," Old North nonmigratory Dan Felton said. "They don't person peculiar small rooms wherever they beryllium down and instrumentality attraction of business."

Steph Gunn, who teaches play toddler creation classes astatine the parkland said she tidies up a information of the writer each clip she visits. 

"I bring doggy poop bags and I conscionable cleanable it up due to the fact that we person infants and babies crawling around," Gunn said. "I'm reasoning of really moving each of my classes to different parkland present successful London conscionable due to the fact that Gibbons seems to beryllium wherever they've each migrated this year."

Bird Friendly London coordinator Brendon Samuels said it's not uncommon for geese to prime a favourite spot to acceptable up campy each spring.

"They similar to beryllium adjacent water, which makes consciousness due to the fact that they are a h2o bird, and they truly similar to person a clear, level scenery similar the lawns that you would find astatine Gibbons Park," Samuels said, adding that the level onshore makes it easier for geese to find nutrient and ticker retired for predators.

While it whitethorn look similar goose colonisation numbers are up, Samuels said helium doesn't deliberation that's the case. The wide colonisation has been dependable for respective years, helium said, but the springtime is erstwhile much geese are noticeable arsenic eggs hatch and fledglings instrumentality their archetypal steps. 

"The [parents] are showing them the ropes of however to beryllium a goose walking astir the city," Samuels said. 

Nearby cities trying goose attraction strategies

Some Londoners accidental the geese and their droppings person go a nuisance, though they are unsure if determination is simply a harmless mode to hole the problem. 

Some adjacent cities are trying retired antithetic strategies to woody with the goose population. On Tuesday, the City of Waterloo and its wildlife relocation squad herded a flock of Canadian geese retired of a park, onto a trailer and implicit to a vertebrate sanctuary successful Kingsville, Ont.

The national authorities does not typically urge that cities relocate geese, "since the geese whitethorn simply instrumentality to the tract erstwhile they person re-gained the quality to alert oregon successful the adjacent season," according to accusation connected the Government of Canada website. 

"I deliberation there's crushed to beryllium skeptical astir trucking distant an carnal that tin alert with the anticipation that it's conscionable going to enactment there," Samuels said. "If the geese privation to travel back, they cognize however to travel back."

Meanwhile, the City of Windsor got a licence from the national authorities that allowed them to prosecute a contractor to region 150 eggs from 7 section nesting spots.

Samuels said helium does not deliberation it's indispensable for London to instrumentality immoderate strategies that volition region geese, but can see ways to marque parks little charismatic to geese.

"Before the adjacent spring, determination mightiness beryllium an accidental to bash immoderate situation modification, similar planting shrubs oregon trying to trim the full tract area, particularly close up to the water," helium said. "That volition awesome to the geese that they should look determination other for adjacent year's nesting."

In the meantime, Felton said helium thinks it's important for park-goers to larn to coexist with geese. 

"I'm looking astatine them close now. They're conscionable sitting determination and hanging out, truthful I don't cognize if they're hurting anybody," helium said. 

"I don't deliberation thing has to beryllium done … They're portion of the situation here, and I'm astir apt connected the obstruction that this is much their neighbourhood and we're coming onto their turf."