Wild Goose Chase: BPS Administrative Building Deals With Geese Family

BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A family of geese have nested on the roof of the Boston Public Schools adminstrative headquarters in Roxbury, and workers in the building shared their opinions on their feathery co-residents.

At the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building, Canada geese have made the third floor roof their home. And this is not the first time.

One person who works there explained that they return every year to this spot during their migratory process. “When they returned this year, there were a lot of people excited in the building,” they shared.

Steve Keyes, who oversees maintenance in the building, explained how they have prevented other roofs from being home to these migratory birds.

“We hired BirdMaster [a bird control service] to run the wires to prevent them [from nesting]. And it’s worked on two other roofs but obviously on that roof [on the third floor] there was enough for her to squeeze on the end," he said, referring to the mother goose finding a nesting spot.

Many of the people who WBZ NewsRadio’s Chaiel Schaffel spoke to voiced their support for the geese, though not everyone was in favor of letting them use the bulding’s roof as their temporary home.

“I’m pro-goose. Any other position is absolutely foul,” said one person.

However, Keyes said that he wants the geese gone. “We have to run another wire. We have to prevent [this] because it’s really distracting for the building.”

Canada geese have a long history in Massachusetts. They’ve been passing through the Commonwealth on their migratory journeys for centuries, explained the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

Before the 20th century, it was less likely to see geese nest in the state. But in the 1930s, after live decoys that were used for hunting were outlawed, the descendants of these captive birds started nesting in the wild.

Then, in 1960s and 1970s, MassWildlife decided to move geese populations from the coast into central and western Massachusetts. This led to a massive explosion in the geese population, which is why you can see so many of them in the Commonwealth today.

Now, there are two different types of geese populations in Massachusetts: resident and migratory.

The non-resident Canada geese who migrate through the state typically begin nesting in mating pairs starting around mid-March through late April. Adult females lay four to six eggs in a clutch.

Canada geese weigh around 10 to 15 pounds, and they are the second largest waterfowl in North American next to swans.

WBZ NewsRadio's Chaiel Schaffel (@CSchaffelWBZ) reports.

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