LAKEPORT — The city”s police chief confirmed Tuesday evening that recent operations were conducted to “reduce the population” of feral geese along part of the Lakeport shoreline.
About 70 to 80 Graylag geese were killed in a “handful” of operations between early January and Monday night, according to Chief Brad Rasmussen of the Lakeport Police Department (LPD).
Rasmussen said he and City Manager Margaret Silveira talked last year about the city receiving complaints last summer and fall regarding aggressive geese and excessive feces in Library Park.
The police chief said he then reached out to the California Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services about the issue in November.
Rasmussen said a certified wildlife biologist informed him that large numbers of geese in concentrated areas could carry diseases known to be harmful and possibly fatal to humans. Those conditions included swimmer”s itch, toxoplasmosis and salmonella.
Once relocation was deemed infeasible, “reducing the population” was presented as an option, Rasmussen said.
The chief said at his request, officials with Fish and Game and USDA Wildlife conducted nighttime operations during which guns were used to kill some of the geese.
“My decision making was directed by the public safety aspect of this,” Rasmussen said.
Officials involved in the operations were on boats and land, and LPD personnel checked for people near the shoreline beforehand, Rasmussen said. The operations took place from roughly Natural High to the area of Esplanade Street, he added.
The operations were the subject of a discussion during the citizen-input period at Tuesday evening”s Lakeport City Council meeting when several residents said they learned of geese being injured and killed, and strongly opposed such acts.
Ron Bertsch, a former Lakeport City Councilman, told the council he recently noticed “fewer and fewer geese” near his house and asked the city to stop the efforts.
Rasmussen said during the meeting that Monday night”s operation was the last one planned.
Lt. Loren Freeman, of Fish and Game, spoke briefly to the council, saying his agency only provided support by way of a boat and driver.
The council did not take any action Tuesday related to the goose-reduction effort, but Mayor Stacey Mattina indicated the issue would be looked into further.
Anyone with questions can contact Rasmussen at 263-5491.
The chief also reminded people not to feed the geese at the park. “The more you feed, the more they”re going to come,” he said.
