What to Feed Wild Geese at a Community Lake

June 14, 2012

Question: I live in a mobile home park in a rural community in San Diego County. We are being told we cannot feed the wild Canada geese around our community lake because the managers are very mad at the geese for the droppings.

Is it legal to feed the geese actual goose food (e.g. a source of food that is put together for them and purchased from a feed store)? If not, can a person be fined for doing so? Are these geese endangered or a protected species? What are the regulations? (Phillip L.)

Answer: No, it is not legal to feed the geese. California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 251.1 prohibits the “harassment” of wildlife, which can in some circumstances include feeding. Harass is defined as “an intentional act which disrupts an animal’s normal behavior patterns, which includes, but is not limited to, breeding, feeding or sheltering.”

Got that everyone?  No harassing fish with a hook poked through a tasty morsel b/c doing so "disrupts an animal’s normal behavior patterns"