Canada Goose Information

 

Lake James Fish Stocking

 Sandhill Crane At Pokagon

 

NUISANCE CANADA GOOSE MANAGEMENT

The Indiana DNR has provided new information about Canada goose management. The following are excerpts from the DNR web site at  www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/hunt/geese/.

Regulations and Community Actions

New rules went into effect in September 2006. The Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife will still issue permits for agricultural depredation and trapping activities concerning resident Canada geese. However, landowners and managers of public lands can register online directly with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service at www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/gooseeggregistration.html to receive permission for egg and nest destruction activities. An annual report must be filed by October 31 of the same calendar year the nest and egg destruction was completed, by logging onto www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/gooseeggregistration.html. If no report is filed, the landowner could be denied permission in future years. Nest and egg destruction permits will no longer be issued through the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife.

Nest and Egg Destruction

It is against federal law for anyone to destroy a Canada goose nest that contains one or more eggs without first securing permission through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Permission may be received by registering online at www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/gooseeggregistration.html. Landowners must register each employee or agent working on their behalf.

Once registered, egg treatment or nest destruction can occur. Be cautious if attempting to conduct these activities yourself as Canada geese are very aggressive during the nesting period and may attack a person coming close to their nest. The only two methods of nest and egg destruction that are approved is the oiling of the eggs and the complete removal of the eggs and nest.

The eggs can be treated by using food grade corn oil only and placed back in the nest. This will trick the goose into sitting on the eggs for an extended time, but they will not hatch. The oil blocks the pores on the eggshell and the egg becomes unviable. See the APHIS technical note for further detailed instructions at www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/tn_wseggoil.pdf.

Nest removal with eggs present is an effective way to reduce goose reproduction and reduce the local goose population in the long-term. If the goose can be seen on the nest, remove the nest after she has been sitting on her eggs for 14 days. If the nest is taken earlier, she is likely to re-nest and lay new eggs, so it is important to wait for 14 days after the last egg is laid. It is probably better to leave the eggs a few days longer than two weeks, rather than take them too early.

If the goose cannot be seen on her nest, the following guidelines should be used. Remove any nests that contain eggs that are warm to the touch during the following periods:

From Lafayette north: The week of April 9 th (about the second full week in April). From Lafayette south to Bedford: The week of April 2 nd (about the first full week of April). From Bedford south to the Ohio River: The week of March 26 th (the last full week of March).

 

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Find out more about the Mute Swan issue nationwide.

http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/muteswans.html

 

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Lake James Fish Stocking Programs

 

Stocked June 10, 2003

Lake James-112,880 Walleye fingerling

Stocked at Northwest Landing Boat Ramp

Jimmerson Lake-37,790 Walleye Fingerling

Stocked at public access site.

Snow Lake-36,600 Walleye Fingerling

Stocked at private boat ramp-North end of lake.

Lake Chain Total-187,270 walleye fingerling*

Walleye fingerlings were 1.0"-2.0" in length when stocked.

Stocking numbers are based on 100 fish per acre.

Stockings will be evaluated by night time electro-fishing in late September or October.
         
 

 

A Pokagon First – Successful Sandhill Crane Nest!
By Fred Wooley, Park Interpreter, Pokagon State Park
10 May 2008

Maybe not the first time for this particular wetland, but for the first time since it has been Pokagon State Park, Sandhill Cranes have successfully hatched two young here this spring of 2008!   It is certainly the first time this century and maybe not since earlier in the previous century have these long-legged masters of the marshes set up housekeeping here and produced a family.

When I came to Pokagon in 1980, the cranes were still a rarity in Steuben County.  At the time they were listed as state-threatened.   In 1984, Mark Weldon, curator at the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, discovered one of the first nests in Indiana on the north end of Seven Sisters Lakes, just east of the park.  The next year a nest was reported on the west end of Jimmerson Lake.  During the next 20 years, Sandhill cranes became more common and, though still a protected species, are no longer listed as state threatened in Indiana.  We now enjoy them in a variety of county wetlands and reports increase every year of possible new nest sites.

Three years ago, a pair established a nest in the marsh just west of the Pokagon saddle barn.  It did not, however, produce young (called “colts” in the crane world).   Last year we thought we had as many as three possible nesting pair in the park, but again, no colts recorded. 

 
 
This year a first has occurred.   Back in the County Road Marsh behind the saddle barn, we noted a pair of cranes hanging out in April.    In mid April, we noted a bird sitting on a nest!   On our traditional Sunday morning hike of April 27, we noted an adult crane standing on the nest with two golden-brown, fuzz-ball colts at its feet!   Hikers for the following two weeks have enjoyed the colts stumbling over the hummocks of cattails and other marshland plants, under the watchful eye of one or both parents.  

The literature says the colts stay in this nesting mode for about 60 days.  They then start venturing further out as the parents take them to more upland areas for feeding forays.   Watch for them on your park visits and in neighboring wetlands and fields this summer!

The original birds may be an expansion of a population from the northeast, in Michigan.  They are a success story of both wetland and species protection.