Becky Lou's Latest Adventures posted on BeckyLouOutdoors.Com

Gathering Geese!

Important process for the Management of Wild Geese. By Becky Lou Lacock Have you ever seen a Canadian Goose with a little ankle bracelet? Do you know why they have it? Do you know how it got there?? I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and was fortunate to be with the Michigan DNRE (Department of Natural Resources and Environment) and participated in the process of Banding wild Canadian Geese for the program of wildlife management. Headed by Bill Rollo, out of the Escanaba, MI office. The end of June, first of July is the perfect time of year for the banding process. The Geese are raising their babies, and are also in different stages of molting, most of them cannot or will not fly, therefore it makes the process a lot easier to round�em up! The DNRE agents scout the area several days before the date of Banding to locate large groups of geese for the project, striving to reach the �quota� they receive each year from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency. The banding is detrimental to management of the wild geese, helping to determine migration patterns and life span of the geese, which in turn helps authorities determine the �bag limit� for different areas across the nation. Nick Brichacek Waterfowl Specialist and Pat Muffler of Hunter�s Specialties filmed the process for a future production to help bring awareness to the program and the important role it plays in the proper management of the Geese.
If you should see a band on a bird, it is sooo important that you call into the national Bird Banding Laboratory toll free number at 1 800-327-BAND. Your report will help gain information on the bird, and you will receive a nice certificate for your efforts. The first banding of the day would be at Pat Muffler�s home, on the Whitefish River, Rapid River, Michigan. The team of agents arrived, along with several much needed volunteers and got right on task! Bill and Kurt of the DNRE spearheaded the operation and immediately began explaining the process, so that we could all assist in the gathering of the unsuspecting Geese!
Having launched a couple of boats up river and down river, the boats locate the geese, then work together, slowly and quietly herding the geese toward the opening of the makeshift pen.

Meanwhile, onshore, everyone hides from �Birds Eye View� as not to spook the birds. As the birds approach the pen, several people approach slowly in hopes of moving the birds up into the pen calmly, nudging them into one corner, and then a portion of the fence is pulled in close to form a very small area.

Several people approach slowly in hopes of moving the birds up into the pen calmly

I was very impressed with the tremendous effort by the agents to keep the birds calm and cool. It was awesome to be "up close and personal" with these beautiful wild geese! An Agent stood inside the pen, carefully handing off birds to different volunteers outside the pen, here is Pat Muffler lending a hand� or two!
The goose is then brought to a person that would tuck the goose� head under it�s wing ( which calms the bird), then gently proceed to determine the sex of the bird, classify the bird as �Gosling� or �Adult�, apply the band to one leg, while another records all the information. The bird is then handed off to yet another person that will carefully take the bird back to the water and release it. The birds immediately begin calling to their families and eventually they are reunited and swim away as fast as their little feet can paddle!

It was an exciting, interesting, and productive day for all! (Below)Pat Muffler lives on the Whitefish River, and has had up to 10 families hanging in his back yard for most of the season, watching the Goslings from hatch to flight. After years of observing the geese, he can tell you what the Goose and the Gander are trying to communicate to each other, and with the Goslings, with focus on keeping them safe from harm.

Pat Muffler lives on the Whitefish River, and has had up to 10 families hanging in his back yard for most of the season, watching the Goslings from hatch to flight

See the entire days pictures on my online Web album in the following link, enjoy! Here are several more pix on my Picasa Photo Album

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