When we think of critters to control in the landscape, we often think of those adorable yet ravenous mammals: deer, rabbits, voles ... chipmunks? But there's a web-footed pest that's made a mess of many a tidy garden, park or golf course, and this one's a doozy to deal with. Stubborn, aggressive and federally protected, Canada geese can wreak havoc on well-manicured lawns and landscapes, nipping at the vegetation and leaving behind loads of noxious droppings. In danger of extinction in the early 1900s due to hunting, egg harvesting and depletion of native wetlands, the massive birds have rebounded remarkably under the protection of the Federal Migratory Bird Act of 1918, which prohibits interference with the fowl except by specific permit. There areplenty of birds to cause plenty of trouble: From a low of only a few thousand in 1965, the population of resident Canada geese in the U.S. now is estimated to be 3 million.
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