Geese appear to understand when and where hunting takes place but are willing to risk the danger to stay close to resources and their primary habitats, according to a new study led by researchers at Penn State.
In findings recently published in Landscape Ecology, the researchers reported that when managing a mixed landscape wildlife management area (WMA) comprising cropland, forest, lake and wetlands for both waterfowl and human use, providing sufficient spatial refuge for geese may help buffer the effects of hunting.
"Canada geese - many of which are non-migratory in Pennsylvania - account for about half of the total harvest of waterfowl within the state of Pennsylvania, however, we know very little about how resident geese respond to hunting pressure on Middle Creek and Pymatuning WMAs and similar areas across the country," said team leader Frances Buderman, assistant professor of quantitative wildlife ecology in the College of Agricultural Sciences. "We looked at whether hunting pressure on these sites is causing geese to leave the WMAs."
