Living with fowl weather friends | Environment

Winter is back and so are the geese.

Every year in late fall, flocks of Canada geese descend on the Front Range and take up residence on local parks and golf courses. These migrators can travel more than 3,000 miles from colder climes to spend the winter here.

Flocks by the hundreds can be seen in many open grassy areas, including in Littleton’s Ketring Park.

According to Skot Latona, supervisor of Park Interpretation at South Platte Park and Carson Nature Center, that’s because Littleton’s numerous parks and open spaces with low-growing vegetation and open water are perfect habitat for the geese.

“Geese have a few habitat requirements that are perfectly aligned with what humans value in a city,” Latona wrote in an e-mail. “All of these can be found in great abundance in our parks and open spaces.”

Although there are some year-round denizens, they are a fraction of the winter numbers. Latona estimates that resident goose populations make up about 5 percent to 10 percent of the number in South Platte Park. READ MORE>>>