Get Ready for the Geese Boise

How many times have you stopped to let geese cross the road? It sounds like the start of a joke, but no. For me it is at least once a week. I work in downtown Boise and the geese sure love to sample grass on both sides of Myrtle regularly. I don't mind, but from what I've heard, this is only the beginning. I was told that come spring the valley, especially grassy areas get even more crowded with adult geese. Plus spring is naturally when the babies start really showing up too.

So why do we have some geese that stick around all year including winter and yet the geese numbers boom in the spring? It turns out there are two different types of Canadian Geese that frequent Boise and the Treasure Valley. Some stay while others travel through. The two look very similar but there are some differences.

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According to Totally Boise, we have lots of Canadian Geese that migrate through but actually do most of their nesting north of Idaho, like in Canada or even Alaska. The other kind are also considered Canadian Geese but are typically bigger in size. Those are the ones that like to stick around all year. The larger ones that stick around didn't come here by chance. They were actually brought here with intentions of letting them build in population to give hunters plenty of year around geese.

If you have little ones who think it may be fun to get super close, be careful. The geese tend to be territorial and can be quite mean and even a little scary if you really tick one off. God speed if you upset off a whole flock.

While driving, please be respectful and let the birdies pass; it also makes a great excuse for being late. ;)