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Goose Egg: Officials Find No Lake Auburn Nests

June 13, 2011 - Auburn — A plan to rid Lake Auburn's outlet beach of geese by disturbing their nests and shaking their eggs wasn't necessary after all, wildlife officials said Thursday.

"There were no nests around the lake, so there was nothing for us to do," said Ben Nugent, wildlife biologist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Wildlife Services Department.

That doesn't mean the outlet beach is free of geese.

"They just kept their eggs scattered around, away from the beach," Nugent said. "We couldn't find them."

Flocks of the messy birds took over the beach last summer, after city officials closed it to swimming for the season. As many as 90 birds were counted at the outlet at one time last summer.

Wildlife officials planned to addle the goose eggs, shaking them by hand to break the yolks. That would kill the egg without alerting the parents and the adults would maintain their nests, protecting and incubating the damaged eggs instead of laying new ones. The plan was designed to keep new generations of Lake Auburn geese from being born, hopefully keeping the flock from growing.

Nugent said his group, recreation and watershed officials, plan to round up the geese in July.

"That's about all we can do now," Nugent said. "Once they molt, we can round them up and take them somewhere else."

Geese typically lose their feathers each summer, becoming flightless for a few days. Nugent said his staff would keep an eye on the birds, waiting for them to start molting.

"If we approach them and they don't fly away, that's when we know they're ready," he said.

It usually takes a team of a half-dozen to round up the birds. Nugent said the Lake Auburn geese are among several nuisance flocks that will be relocated this July.


Scott Taylor, Sun Journal, June 2011


Lakes: Auburn Lake
Regions: Sebago


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