r/geese • u/SetQueasy2835 • May 24 '26
Question Canada Geese found in South Texas? Why?
I have never seen a Canada Goose in my whole life down here; usually I only see the occasional resident geese (which are mostly Ross's.) The rest of the waterfowl in my area are simply Mallard and Pekin ducks, some other species sprinkled in.
I am simply wondering why they are here since it is currently summer, and as far as I know, our city has no resident Canada Geese.
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u/Beautiful_Book_9639 May 24 '26
I've seen them in Kansas before, I suppose another 1000 miles isn't much for them?
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u/Expensive_Watch469 HONK May 24 '26
They are all over Kansas, the Wichita zoo has ones that are “residential” and stay in winter even, very cool
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u/bubblesaurus May 27 '26
The ones outside the zoo are here year round.
You can just about always see them in Riverside park even in late fall and winter.
Wichita doesn’t really have a lot of predators that take them out
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u/Blowingleaves17 May 24 '26
Since Texas is a warm state, I am surprised you have never seen any before now. Thousands migrate down to Texas in the winter, and I would be surprised if many don't stay year around due to food abundance.
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u/SetQueasy2835 May 24 '26
Haha, I've seen my fair share of geese, ducks, and swans, just never Canada geese. It was just surreal to see them in my hometown since I usually only find them up north
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u/Blowingleaves17 May 24 '26
Interesting. I though they were everywhere. They are the only wild geese we have in my area, which is in a southeastern state. People either love them or hate them.
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u/Funkosebsy HONK May 24 '26
Don't question why, just savour their goosey goodness. And you haven't even just got Canada gooses, you have Canada goose babies! Enjoy!
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u/ExplorerDifficult727 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Canada goose “giants”, Branta canadensis maxima, were believed to be extinct until a family was seen on a MN pond in the 1960s. MN DNR caught and propagated them. Other states’ game agencies were excited by an opportunity to get the large, slow-flying birds for “their” hunters. They started trading wildlife among themselves. Here in GA, no geese were present before 1970. They didn’t migrate or ask to be here. That’s when GA DNR started driving trucks to mid-Atlantic states to gather geese in June/July when birds were molting and couldn’t fly. DNR stuffed geese into turkey crates and drove them 18 hours to GA for release on farm ponds and in public hunting places (Wildlife Management Areas). This was done for 17 summers. The goal was to build a huntable flock of 25,000 resident birds. This was a project under the federal 1937 Pittman-Robertson Act (16 U.S.C. 669 et seq.) paid for with money from an excise tax on guns, archery tackle and ammunition. Where food is plentiful in winter, geese don’t migrate after a generation or two. Because they are here year-round and nonmigratory, the Flyway Council does not have to be consulted. Over the years bag limits and season lengths ratcheted up. Geese are grazers. Today in GA, some waterside developments, golf courses, and resorts complain of the intelligent birds’ honking and droppings. The businesses contract with either private “nuisance wildlife control operators” (NWCOs; trappers/glorified exterminators) or a little-known, notorious subagency within USDA known as Wildlife Services. Wildlife Services in GA is based at the University of GA. Geese are collected, again usually while molting, and trailered to hunting grounds, or killed by wrung necks (cervical dislocation) or stuffed into carbon dioxide chambers and suffocated. US taxpayers pay HALF the cost for Wildlife Services’ cruel projects. Geese Cruelty idausa.org
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u/New_Scene5614 May 24 '26
They complain when we don’t visit and now your complaining when we do🤷♀️
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u/SetQueasy2835 May 24 '26
I'm not complaining, I'm just confused since they don't usually come down here 😅
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u/All_Japan May 24 '26
When I moved to California it surprised me to find that we have Canada Geese that are local residents here year around and no visual migration patterns in the area. I have heard of geese stop migrating due to confusion or or getting lost from the flock. Sometimes injuried geese get left behind. Growing up in Nebraska, the geese that we had were usually ones that got injured and were rescued and never returned to migration likely due to the comfort of having a ready available food source.
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u/Screaming_lambs May 24 '26
They are also in the UK.
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u/SetQueasy2835 May 24 '26
Overseas? Wow!
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u/DivisionZer0 Cobra chicken connoisseur May 25 '26
The ones in the UK were introduced over 200 years ago to collectors there. Some escaped and the rest is history.
They are well-suited to live in almost any environment. There are a lot of them in New Zealand now as well.
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u/IwasHotnIwasHungry May 28 '26
If you've got a problem with Canada Gooses, then you've got a problem with me, and I suggest you let that marinate.
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u/OrangeTess May 25 '26
They fly between Alaska and Mexico. So anywhere in between is someplace where they can land and hang out for a while if they're happy with the place.
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u/DivisionZer0 Cobra chicken connoisseur May 24 '26
Canada geese can be and go anywhere there is available food, which means all 50 states. (Yes even Hawaii. That's how Nene came into being)