The City of Vernon may choose to abandon its goose population management strategy after a search for contractors came up empty.
In 2021, city council switched from a goose cull to a ‘kill-to-scare’ program, which took effect last year. The kill-to-scare program involves killing the dominant goose in a flock to deter other birds from returning to the area.
The city was looking to deploy the program in several areas that geese frequent, including Paddlewheel Park, Kin Beach, Lakeshore Park, Marshall Fields and Polson Park.
In May, the city sought expressions of interest from contractors to track and remove geese through a kill-to-scare program. The expression of interest was posted to BC Bid, the city’s website and the city’s procurement portal.
However, according to a staff report to city council, no submissions from contractors were received by the June 1 deadline.
“Contractors were not interested, not willing to participate at the locations indicated, or unavailable for the duration of time that was needed for the City of Vernon program,” reads a report from parks and public spaces manager Kendra Kryszak.
Staff are now recommending that council abandon the kill-to-scare program because administration was unsuccessful in obtaining interested contractors and the request for expressions of interest was not successful.
Alternatively, council could decide to pursue the kill-to-scare program again in the spring of 2024.
The report notes that Vernon is part of the Okanagan Valley Goose Management Program, which is a partnership between numerous cities and regional districts in the valley. The egg addling program started in early April and continued through to mid-May. The report says egg addling is an important method for managing goose populations.
Council will review the matter at its next regular meeting Monday, June 12.
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