The Great Canada Goose Egg Roundup at New Melones Lake

Written by: Patricia Sanders

New Melones Ranger Pat Sanders rescuing Canada goose eggs. On Wednesday afternoon, March 30, 2016, the New Melones Lake patrol boat was launched at the Mark Twain Day Use Area to save numerous eggs found in four Canada goose nests on a nearby island. New Melones Lake levels were rapidly rising, and without a rescue attempt, there was concern that the nests might be inundated.

Al Tunsen, a local boater, informed New Melones Natural Resource Specialist Sandra Patania and Natural Resource Ranger Pat Sanders of the general location of the nests. The Rose Wolf Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center Coordinator, Nina Resnik, and volunteer Elissa Wall met the New Melones staff at Mark Twain for the rescue attempt (http://rosewolfwildlife.org/).

The group walked the small island and found the four nests, three with seven eggs each and one with five eggs. The 26 eggs were carefully removed, along with some of the nesting material, and placed in a container that was heated for transport to Tri-County Wildlife Care ( http://www.pawspartners.org/tcwc.html). There, Carol Galinski placed the eggs on several shelves in a large incubator.

The island from which the eggs were removed was totally submerged just a few days later, and several weeks later, 20 of the 26 rescued eggs hatched! Numerous goslings were transported to the Sacramento Wildlife Care Association (http://wildlifecareassociation.net/). From there, volunteers with Gold Country Wildlife Rescue ( http://goldcountrywildliferescue.org/) picked up the goslings and transported them to their final destination, Rancho Esquon in Durham, California, near Yuba City, which offers more than 900 acres of wildlife habitat ( http://www.ranchoesquon.com/).

The remarkable rescue, care and rehabilitation of the goslings happened thanks to a large team of compassionate and concerned professionals and dedicated wildlife care providers and volunteers. Photos of the rescue were taken by Elissa Wall of the Rose Wolf Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.

Published on June 13, 2016