The rainy summer may have contributed to the spread of Canada geese on the country’s shores. When the bathing areas have been emptied of people, the geese have been able to spread out. And trash down.
– The situation is absolutely deplorable. It’s a lot, says Björg Jahren Andersson, cottage owner.
Canada geese have perhaps never belonged to Sweden’s more popular bird species, but the mismatch between humans and poultry has become palpable across the country this year. The rainy summer has caused people to abandon the bathing areas and the deserted beaches attract the birds.
“It’s disgusting”
In several places in the country, there are reports of flocks of the black and white geese spreading out on bathing beaches. One of the affected places is Askimsbadet in Gothenburg. Björg Jahren Andersson lives in the area and she is tired of seeing the bath and places around it covered in bird droppings.
– Today at eight o’clock I went for a morning walk to Askimsbadet. Then there were probably hundreds who went there. And they litter something so terrible, it’s disgusting, says Björg Jahren Andersson, cottage owner in the area.
Difficulty hunting
How the Canada Geese should be managed is a difficult question. The population has increased over time and a general hunt is conducted every year to keep the population down. However, conducting protective hunting outside the hunting season has been complicated by a change in the law in 2021. Previously, protective hunting could be granted if the birds created a “sanitary nuisance”. But after the change in the law, the requirements have been tightened.
– We can only provide protective hunting when there is a danger to people’s health. And even if it feels unfresh and not so pleasant to bathe in a bathing place, it does not mean that it is a danger to one’s health, says Sofia Ring, wildlife officer of the Västra Götaland County Administrative Board.
Sofia Ring also points out that protective hunting should function as a last resort when other, less drastic solutions have failed. And in Sweden, new methods have recently been tested to drive the birds away.
Drones and lasers
In Norrtälje, a green laser pointer has been used to scare the birds. The laser pointer looks like a large flashlight and the green beam scares the birds. Elsewhere, a drone that plays the birds’ warning calls has been tested to trick them into thinking there is danger in the area.
It remains to be seen how effective these methods are. But when you scare the birds away, the natural consequence is of course that they appear elsewhere.
– It’s a problem we see, on swimming beaches but also, for example, in fields with crops. If you scare them away from one, they go to another. We humans want bathing places and we want to grow things, we spread out everywhere. But the birds have to be somewhere too, says Sofia Ring.