I appreciate living Up North where a traffic jam consists of Ma and Pa Canada geese crossing the road with their young ones.

And while I enjoy the wildlife as much as the next person, after a while the geese can out wear their welcome. At that point they evolve from cute and pretty to obnoxious and a nuisance.

All of us who call this region home have come to that realization eventually. It normally occurs right after “one too many” run-ins with “goose grease,” and the grease won. Nothing is more obnoxious than a cool barefoot romp through a city park in the heat of the summer, all the while dodging the “goose grease.”

Over the years many efforts have been made by city officials to combat the issue, including spraying the parks with a “bubblegum” type repellent that may have worked for a few days, but was not the answer. The promise was a hundred times better than the reality with that product.

The goose population has become such a problem statewide that this week the Department of Natural Resources sent out a press release to Michigan media outlining several ways to deal with the geese in a safe, yet effective manner. DNR officials recognize that the birds have become a nuisance in communities and left unchecked, can create problems for homeowners.

Here is what DNR officials recommend:

∫ Make your yard less attractive to geese by allowing the grass to grow long and refrain from fertilizing or watering it.

∫ Use scare tactics like bird-scare balloons, loud noises and mylar tape to make unwanted geese leave the area.

∫ Apply repellents to the lawn to deter geese from feeding on the grass. Grape concentrate is useful for yards and turf.

∫ In June and July, Canada geese are unable to fly because they are molting. Construct a temporary barrier between your yard and the water to keep flightless geese out.

∫ Do not feed Canada geese. Artificial feeding can habituate them as well as harm their digestive system. Bread products are not beneficial to waterfowl survival.

It’s hard to believe that in the 1950s the Canada goose was almost extinct. Obviously it has made a very healthy recovery and today thrives across the state.

The local goose population is certainly a welcomed part of our landscape but as with most things in nature, there is a fine line between a healthy ecosystem in which they thrive and a system out of control that ultimately threatens their chance of survival.

Sometimes there can be too much of a good thing, and the Canada goose population if left unchecked can be an example of that.

Enjoy the goose, but don’t encourage or foster bad habits with it. You might be well intentioned, but ultimately you could be doing the goose more harm than good.

Bill Speer can be reached via email at bspeer@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 354-3111 ext. 331. Follow Bill on Twitter @billspeer13.