Here’s Why There Are So Many Canada Geese in Fort Collins

Nowadays, it's extremely common to see flocks of Canada geese roaming around Fort Collins, Colorado, but believe it or not, that hasn't always been the case.

During the early 20th century, events like the Dust Bowl, widespread droughts, habitat destruction, and unregulated hunting caused much of middle America's geese populations to dwindle. At the end of the 1940s, it was estimated that there were only about 800 migrating geese left in the country.

After years of decimation, Colorado decided it was finally time to rebuild its resident Canada goose population.

In 1957, a Colorado Fish and Wildlife worker named Gurney Crawford, introduced a small flock of Canada geese to Northern Colorado. The longtime wildlife conservation officer, better known as "Father Goose," acquired eggs from Denver-based geese and actually used his own bantam hens to incubate them.

When the goslings reached nine weeks old, Crawford released them at College Lake, located within Colorado State University's Foothills Campus.

By 1960, Crawford's initial flock of 60 geese had grown to about 55,000 birds between Denver, Fort Morgan, and Larimer County, Colorado.

Today, the town of Fort Collins is regularly invaded by the descendants of those goslings that were released decades ago. The returning geese number in the hundreds, if not thousands and locals have learned to live alongside them.

Father Goose passed away in 1984, but his legacy lives on. In 1985, a stone marker was erected in front of a research lab at 3180 Rampart Road in Fort Collins, honoring the man who released Canada goose goslings to the city. The memorial features a trio of geese, and pays tribute to Gurney Crawford's important animal conservation efforts.