Tuesday marked the first day of spring, which means it won’t be long until the geese on campus enter nesting season. With many nests sure to be established around campus, it can be difficult navigating around the protective (sometimes aggressive) geese. If this is your first spring in Waterloo, hopefully the following tips will help you steer clear of run-ins with the birds around campus.
James McCarthy, developer of the GooseWatch website, shared some tips given to him by environment professor Stephen Murphy. The advice is as follows:
- Geese protect their nests and young — give them plenty of space, especially if there are several together, a visible nest, eggs, or young geese.
- Geese will hiss and/or bend their neck back to show aggression — walk away slowly and calmly without running or yelling.
- Geese usually only attack if provoked — be neutral when passing by them . . . and don’t show fear or act hostile.
If you do happen to be attacked by a goose, it’s important not to panic. Stand your ground, and don’t make any quick movements (like running away). Do your best to maintain eye contact with the goose and move away slowly, without turning or making any loud noises that could startle it into aggression.
Experts have also urged people to refrain from feeding human food to the geese, particularly bread, which can cause malnutrition and other harmful health problems for the birds. In addition to causing harm to the geese, getting too close to them — especially during nesting season — could be hazardous for people, too. It’s best to stick on the safe side and avoid feeding the geese on campus altogether.
Hopefully these tips will help you stay safe this nesting season! Though avoiding the loud, aggressive birds might be stressful right now, it won’t be long until we’re able to enjoy the presence of many baby geese here at UW.
