Breda has been suffering from a goose plague for years and it is getting worse. More than a thousand greylag geese are a major nuisance in and around the city. Dangerous traffic situations arise within the city limits and they also pollute the swimming water in recreational lakes with their poo. Breda cannot get the problem under control, because the population continues to grow.
“I’ve been coming to the Galderse Meren for over thirty years, but I haven’t experienced this yet,” says sun worshiper Annabelle, pointing out the group of geese. “They just walk between us and shit the whole beach. I don’t like it at all.”
In addition to the Asterdplas in the Hague Beemden and Valkenberg city park, it is now also the Galderse Meren recreational lake. A group of about one hundred and fifty to two hundred greylag geese is gradually gaining ground. “The geese spend the night on the water and have fresh grass from the sunbathing meadow next to it for breakfast,” says Anton Lips, public space manager of the municipality of Breda. “And she likes that.”
“We haven’t had to impose a swimming ban yet, but I’m not ruling it out.”
Although the municipality is doing everything it can, Lips must acknowledge that Breda can no longer control the geese plague. “There are already more than a thousand and more and more. Geese lay four to five eggs a year, so do the math. We really need to do something about this!”
The nuisance is still manageable, but the critical point is approaching. “In the city, for example at the furniture boulevard, the geese cause unsafety in traffic because they suddenly cross the road,” says Lips. “And the farmers have suffered a lot of damage to the pastures.”
There is perhaps even greater concern at the Asterd and Galderse Meren swimming lakes, because even public health is at stake there. The droppings of the geese affect the quality of the bathing water. Too high a concentration of the E-coli bacteria, also called poop bacteria, can make people sick.
“We see those values fluctuating,” says Anton Lips about this. “We are keeping a close eye on this and we have not yet had to impose a swimming ban, but I do not rule it out. We already did this at the Asterdplas in 2016.”
“In addition, the goose droppings on the sunbathing meadow are of course also annoying for the holidaymakers,” continues the man who is responsible for greenery management. “It’s not so fresh sitting there on a rug in the grass.”
“Capturing geese is not allowed by the province and encounters social resistance.”
The easiest way to deal with the goose infestation is to capture the birds. They are then gassed prematurely. “But that is not allowed by the province and the law on nature protection,” explains Lips. “Capturing also encounters social resistance. Of course that has everything to do with animal friendliness.”
In the fight against this, municipalities are therefore hand and foot tied and are therefore looking for alternatives. “We really try everything”, sighs Lips. “For example, we used a laser pointer to scare them away and at the Asterdplas we hung fake birds of prey on poles to scare the geese. But it actually doesn’t work optimally.”
In the meantime, Brabant has given permission for a different, more direct approach. The goose eggs are dipped in corn oil in the spring to prevent them from hatching.
“But this also does not work optimally, because you can never find all the eggs. And you also have to be able to reach them. The eggs of the geese in the Valkenberg Park, for example, are on the grounds of the KMA. So then you have to knock on the door again. . It’s not easy,” explains Anton Lips.
Meanwhile, on the Galderse Meren, two young women look at each other in fear when the geese are about to waddle over their bath towels. “I think it’s scary,” says one. “I don’t dare to chase them away,” says the other. “Because geese can be quite aggressive.”