Last night, Mentor City Council unanimously passed Ordinance No. 23-0-077 which declared the Canada goose as a “Nuisance Health Risk Animal”. Effective immediately, the measure essentially prohibits persons from knowingly harboring or feeding the animal.
Canada geese are a federally protected migratory species that can be found in significant numbers in the city.
Feeding can lead to normalization with human contact as well as creating an artificial food source which encourages geese to overstay their migratory pattern as well as take up residence in the city.
The mess they leave behind poses a health threat to humans, domestic animals, as well as other native species.
The average goose can produce from one to one-and-a-half pounds of feces per day with movements as frequent as every twenty minutes. Their feces can carry bacteria inclusive of Escherichia coli (E Coli), Listeria moncytogenes, Salmonella, and Campylobacter jejuni, which can contaminate ponds and puddles.
Feeding and harboring of nuisance animals is a fourth-degree misdemeanor in the city of Mentor.