A wealthy California city is being overrun by geese which are clogging up its streets with 300lbs of feces per day.

Residents of Foster City in San Mateo County continually grapple with the mess and odor caused by the 400 Canada geese inhabiting the city.

Parks and open spaces in the otherwise ritzy city, where a typical home will set you back around $1.8 million, are now spattered with droppings.

The problem has been growing over the years, and is even sparking health concerns.

In 2022, a two-year-old was hospitalized after she put some goose feces in her mouth while playing in a park, her dad told the New York Times.

Meanwhile, the birds’ droppings are also contributing to high E. coli levels in parts of the local lagoon.

‘We are at the front lines of dealing with this issue,’ Derek Schweigart, Foster City’s parks and recreation director, insists.

Despite attempts to address the issue, locals remain skeptical, with some in the progressive Silicon Valley city even mulling the idea of taking matters into their own hands. “The birds have just taken over,” commented Mark Beltran, who works in corporate finance in Silicon Valley and supports the idea of euthanizing the birds.

Foster City (pictured) is being overrun by geese which are clogging up its streets with 300lbs of feces per day

The birds’ droppings are also contributing to high E. coli levels in parts of the local lagoon

Residents of Foster City in San Mateo County continually grapple with the mess and odor caused by the 400 Canada geese inhabiting the city.

The problem has been growing over the years, and is even sparking health concerns (pictured: Buckets of collected goose droppings) 

‘This beautiful place that we call home, we cannot even use it as it was intended. ‘I’m not here to kill birds. I’m here to save our local environment.’

When Foster City’s X shared a post last summer encouraging park-goers not to feed, provoke or approach Canada geese it prompted a furious response.

A disgruntled local responded, ‘Can we hunt them instead? We have beautiful parks, yet they are covered from end to end to [sic] geese poop, its a nightmare for all of us that have kids.’ 

But problems with the geese date further back than just last summer. The goose population doubled between 2020 and 2022, and so have the complaints.

Susan Lessin, a 30-year resident of Foster City and member of the San Mateo County Bird Alliance, said she thinks the issue worsened during the pandemic when residents started spending more time outdoors and quickly learned they had to be careful where they stepped. 

Raju Gadiraju, a biopharmaceutical executive, told the NYT he no longer lets his dog run off its leash because the dog ‘likes to eat geese droppings’

‘It’s just disgusting,’ he added.

 With 24 parks and more than 160 acres of open space, there is plenty of room for the geese to play. There is also plenty of room for them to poop. 

With 24 parks and more than 160 acres of open space, there is plenty of room for the geese to play in Foster City (pictured). There is also plenty of room for them to poop

The droppings do not clean easily – to get rid of the poop requires regular power washings

Parks and open spaces in the otherwise ritzy city, where a typical home will set you back around $1.8 million, are now spattered with droppings

The animals can also be dangerous and become particularly aggressive during nesting season. They have been known to chase off small dogs and children

Each goose can produce one or two pounds of droppings each day, which can seriously stack up. 

To make matters worse, the droppings do not clean easily. To get rid of the poop requires regular power washings.

The animals can also be dangerous and become particularly aggressive during nesting season. They have been known to chase off small dogs and children. 

Foster City officials took serious measures earlier this month. The city council approved a $400,000 contract with a wildlife company to deter the geese from habituating at seven ‘high impact’ parks. 

This will involve measures such as using drones, balloons and dogs to scare – or ‘haze’ – the geese.

However, the contract only approved non-lethal measures to get rid of the birds.  

Other San Mateo County locations with less open spaces and lagoons have far fewer Canada geese and far fewer geese-related problems.

Redwood Shores and Redwood City Port had fewer than 200 as of 2025, while San Mateo itself barely had 100. 

The Daily Mail reached out to Foster City Council for comment.