CA: Hungry geese a peck of trouble for Humboldt Bay ranchers

Bakersfield Californian ^ | 4/24/05 | AP - Eureka

[NormsRevenge]

EUREKA, Calif. (AP) - Honk if you're glad the geese are gone.

Humboldt Bay ranchers are overjoyed that hungry hordes of the messy fowl are finally on their way north to nest. Ravenous Aleutian cackling geese have been eating up their pasture.

The Aleutian geese, once an endangered species, now number at least 60,000 and many like to feast on the sweet spring grasses of the Humboldt Bay bottomlands.

They'll nest in the wind-chilled Aleutian Islands - then eventually head back to the land of the worried ranchers to fortify themselves again.

A survey last month found 10,000 of the chubby birds grazing on a 1/8240-acre ranch near Arcata.

The rancher, Peter Bussman, estimates he lost up to 60 percent of the grasses he needs to feed his livestock for the three to four months the birds were there.

In some pastures the birds chomped 10-inch-high grasses down to a mere two inches - then tackled the tender new shoots.

"Once they get short grass, they keep hitting it," Bussman said.

An analysis of 5,000 acres of pasture land in the Mad River bottoms found the geese were responsible for up to $450,000 in lost grazing.

Aleutian geese spend about 90 percent of their day eating.

Officials are trying to control the damage by increasing hunting of the birds and shooing them off private lands to wildlife refuges.

Oregon officials worry that such measures could scare the birds into their state, where the Aleutian geese are still an endangered species and can't be hunted.

The regeneration of the Aleutian geese population is a success story - for the birds, said Bussman. "Now we just have to find solutions to feed the geese."

[taxesareforever]

LOL!

[Clemenza]

Better than the Muscovy Ducks that would crap all over my neighborhood when I lived in Miami.

Dennis, didn't you say once that Muscovy Ducks were good eating>

[dennisw]

Muscovy duck is a gourmet item... and yes I've eaten some.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

In some pastures the birds chomped 10-inch-high grasses down to a mere two inches - then tackled the tender new shoots.

I need a couple of these birds in my yard after all the excess rain we got this year.

[tubebender]

Thanks Norm. The flats around Humboldt Bay are ideal for milk cows and cattle because the pastures grow through the summer due to the sub-irrigation from the rivers. These geese have outgrown their habitat. Here is the Times-Standard full article..

AFLAC!

[forester]

On March 2 at a ranch Peter Bussman leases near the Mad River outside Arcata west of U.S. Highway 101, 10,000 Aleutian geese were counted on 240 acres."For once I believed the count," Bussman said. He estimates a 50 to 60 percent loss to his cattle operation for the three to four months the birds are there -- and this was an excellent year for grass.

Thanks for the ping. Because these numbers got garbled in the intial post, I thought that this correction should be pointed out....that is alot of geese on one area.

[fish hawk]

Thursday or was it Friday, Rush Limbaugh was talking to someone from Calif. and he said ,"I was in Sacramento for four years and loved California, except for Humboldt County, well... there are a few good places, even in Humboldt County." LOL