USGS Home
Contact USGS
Search USGS

A boat on the lake, an airplane, or a short-eared owl (Asio flammeus) flying over caused the whole flock to fly; they circled once or twice before settling again. Otherwise the birds were initially rather tame towards people; but this changed as soon as they had been shot at, a few days after arriving. In 6 "shooting" weeks, between October and January, geese were much disturbed, but fewer than 200 were killed as they flew on and off the lake. This was a negligible proportion of the total present. After some shoots goose numbers declined and after others they rose, so probably shooting had no important effect on the numbers of geese using the lake this winter. The same conclusion might not have held for smaller waters or where disturbance was greater. The pink-footed goose (Anser brachyrhynchus) is more wary, difficult to shoot, and more easily disturbed than the greylag goose (Anser anser).