Clarkston City Manager Jonathan Smith was already dealing with resident complaints about the large flocks of Canada geese around the city when another animal population began to create issues.

Beavers have taken up residence in Depot Park, gnawing and felling about 15 trees and dragging them into Mill Race, which connects to the Clinton River. Their efforts caused damming, which created a bank erosion problem.

Some of the trees destroyed were purchased by community members as memorials to someone who died, he said.

“I think it’s very cool that the beavers are here,” he said. “I don’t want to eradicate them. I told the city council, ‘Let’s just let them live their lives and we can co-exist.’”

The city tried several methods to deter beavers from being active in the park, such as applying commercially bought coyote urine, a common agent used to repel wildlife. City officials placed chicken wire around tree trunks to keep the beavers from gnawing on them. When those methods didn’t work, Smith consulted a trapper.

The trapper determined that 12-14 beavers lived in the park and recommended trapping and killing about six beavers.

Over the past several months, the trapper has caught four beavers and one muskrat in the underwater, lethal traps. The trapper performed the service free of charge in exchange for keeping the pelts, which he makes into clothing items that he gives to friends and family, Smith said.

Smith said the reduction has alleviated some of the problems that the beavers were creating in the park and he’s hoping that no more killing will be necessary.

Many residents were supportive of the trapping, while others opposed it, Smith said.

Conflicts between humans and wildlife are nothing new, said Scott Tiegs, a biology professor at Oakland University.

With natural predators eliminated in suburban areas, it’s not surprising that some animals have proliferated to the point that some see them as nuisances, he said.

Hunting or killing a portion of a population can be, in effect, a natural solution, he said. But it is not the only solution.

“There are a lot of other things we can do,” he said, such as enforcing speed limits in areas where car-deer crashes are an issue.

Goose droppings have been blamed for beach closings due to E.coli contamination in Oakland County, he said. The contamination is sometimes used as a rationale to reduce the population. But humans are also responsible for beach closings. If people stopped using lawn fertilizers, that would solve a good portion of that problem, he said.

Deer

Farmington Hills is considering a combination of hiring professional sharpshooters and allowing amateur bowhunters to hunt in designated locations and times to reduce deer overpopulation in the city of more than 82,000, the second-most populated community in the county. City officials and many residents say the deer herd is too large, causing destruction of landscaping and an increase in car-deer crashes.

There is also concern about larger herds spreading disease via ticks that live on the animals and can be deposited in vegetation, where humans or pets may come in contact with them.

Deer overpopulation is a concern in much of southeast Michigan, and Oakland County officials have looked for regional solutions. Southfield voters approved an advisory question on organizing a cull in 2022. Southfield and Farmington may join the Farmington Hills effort. Farmington Hills officials hope other area communities will follow.

Canada geese

Canada geese are an issue in Clarkston and many other Oakland County communities. Numerous neighborhood associations and municipalities are applying for permits from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to destroy nests and eggs in an effort to keep the population from growing.

Smith said 60-70 geese live in Depot Park, generating numerous complaints about droppings. The city applied for a permit from the DNR to destroy the nests and eggs. If approved, DNR specialists or contractors would locate the nests and destroy them, Smith said.

“Kids are playing on the playground and the birds are doing their business also on the playground,” he said. “It’s not something we like to get involved in, but due to the number of complaints, we felt we had to.

“We had some pushback, but most people were supportive. We had one or two complaints and about 15-20 people who told us they were in favor.”

The Homeowners’ Association of Avon Lakes Village in southeastern Rochester Hills also recently applied for a permit.

Last year, the Rochester Hills City Council beefed up an existing ban on wildlife feeding to make it clear that putting food out on the ground for geese is prohibited, said Matt Einheuser, the city’s natural resources manager.

Einheuser said deer were the primary impetus for the ordinance, which was rewritten last year because of numerous complaints about geese. The city generally gives warnings before issuing citations, he said.

In Clarkston, city officials attempted to qualify for a goose population reduction through the DNR, but the agency required at least 100 birds living on one body of water, Smith said.

Formerly, the DNR rounded up geese if they were a demonstrated nuisance and relocated them.

The DNR stopped that practice because of concerns about spreading bird flu, according to Smith and the DNR’S website. If a flock of more than 100 qualifies, the animals are now collected and killed via carbon monoxide poisoning in an enclosed structure, according to an opposition group, In Defense of Animals.

DNR officials could not be reached for comment.

In Defense of Animals is working to stop the gassing of geese in Michigan and elsewhere, saying the practice is inhumane, as it can take up to 40 minutes for the birds to die.

The group opposes all methods to control “nuisance” populations by killing.

“I like to challenge the idea of animals as a nuisance, that humans are the only beings that matter,” said Lisa Levinson, campaigns director for the group, which is based in California and has local residents active in the effort to stop the gassing of geese.

She said nonlethal methods of controlling animal populations are always a better solution.

How to address animal problems

Many species can become a nuisance or cause damage to crops or landscaping. To learn more about what you can do to discourage animals from becoming a problem and how to address issues that arise, visit https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/managing-resources/wildlife/nuisance-wildlife.