Wednesday, June 13, 2018

Airboat Goose Capture and Banding in the Northern Utah Marshes

It’s an experience unlike any other: You’re lying on your stomach, stretched off the front end of an airboat that’s zipping across the water. The driver slows down, approaching a group of wary geese, and it’s time! 

With a quick scoop, you pluck a young goose out of the water and hand it to the volunteer waiting behind you. The goose goes into one of the crates stacked in the middle of the boat, and you drop back into position to be ready for the next bird. 

This is a scene playing out across northern Utah’s marshes this week as DWR biologists and volunteers work together to capture wild geese. The geese are flightless this time of the year, which makes this wetland rodeo possible! 

When they get the geese back to shore, the biologists examine and band the birds, and then set them free. 

The banding work provides important information about Canada goose populations in Utah. 

Reporters and photographers are invited to join the airboat roundup and to interview biologists about the program and Utah’s growing population of Canada geese. 

Note: If you want to help capture the geese, please dress in clothes that can get wet and muddy.

When: June 11–15

Where: Sites across northern Utah, including Cache Valley, Farmington Bay, Ogden Bay and more

Contact: Rich Hansen, 801-391-1454