Early gosling sightings a trend for populations in coming season?

SANDERS COUNTY – Warm temperatures have been coming to the area recently, leading to some distinctly spring-like conditions turning up earlier than expected; one of these has been reports of goslings in some areas.

Baby geese have been seen around some of the county’s bodies of water, the result of early mating among the geese. According to Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, though, these occurrences are rare, but not wholly unusual. Neil Anderson, wildlife manager for FWP, said the Canadian Geese have been known to mate early sometimes and it is an oddity that cannot always be explained.

“It’s a bit early, but it’s not totally unheard of,” he said. “I’ve seen it before.”

This is not expected to have a serious impact on the populations this year. Anderson said there could be some mortality if the temperatures see a serious drop again, but there should not be any major impact as a result.

A wet, cold storm in particular could cause a rise in mortality, especially among the newborns. Anderson noted cold, wet weather especially impacted birds in terms of population control.

“We may lose some broods, but it probably won’t be something where we’d see a large scale impact to the population,” he said.

Goose eggs incubate for approximately 25 to 30 days, leaving plenty of time for new clutches to be laid and hatch before the March to April breeding season ends.

FWP did not expect this to be a large-sale event among the goose populations and it is not expected it will have an impact on numbers later in the year. Anderson said it might be interesting to monitor the situation, though, and see if geese start mating earlier over the course of the next few years.