This Year we had the opportunity to take our boys to help band and collar some groups of local geese.Us, along with 4 biologist from the Washington State Dept. of Fish & Wildlife were able to catch a total of 110 local geese. It was a great experience for our boys. The boys got to hold the geese as they moved from one station to another..first sexing(finding out how many males VS females their was) Then they were shown how to tell if it was an adult or juvenile (based upon tail feathers) Then they held them while the biologists collared and banded them. The adults received both collars and bands, while the Juveniles only got bands.
You would be amazed at how easy the process really was as we did this in the small window of time when the birds are moulting.(can't fly) If anyone hunts, or has kids that hunt, or even just enjoy geese and waterfowl.... I HIGHLY suggest you contact your local Dept.to see if they have a program, or need volunteer help. It was a unforgettable experience for our boys.You will even notice by the pic that this hunter chicks hubby to be was more then PLEASED to be holding his first "collared goose" (Should we tell him it's still alive, and it doesn't count if you didn't shoot it??????)
This is what the total count was for the local area:
Treetop Fruit Pond
43-Juveniles
4-Adults
0-Recaptures
47-Total
Sgt. Hubbard Park
25-Juveniles
10-Adults
0-Recaptures
35-Total
Lakeside Office Park
16-Juveniles
9-Adults
0-Recaptures
25-Total
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