THOMASVILLE — Canada geese at Cherokee Lake are sitting ducks.

The big birds are scheduled to be relocated late this week to make way for draining of the Covington Avenue city park lake for dam repairs.

“The geese have lost their flight feathers and cannot fly now,” said Drew Zellner, wildlife biologist at the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife Resources Division in Albany.

The geese will not be completely helpless when the relocation process begins. Zellner pointed out they can swim to the middle of the lake.

“They’re aggressive, too, especially when they have young,” he said. ” … Obviously, when we get there, they’ll jump in the water.”

Catch pins made of PVC pipe and netting will be placed on the lake’s shore. Making the relocation process as low-key as possible, DNR personnel will use kayaks to guide the geese toward the pins. A motorized canoe might be required, but Zellner said it is preferred motorized vessels not be used.

Radio-controlled boats are sometimes used. Said Zellner, “Toys for adults is what they are.”

People on the lake’s shore will steer the geese into the catch pins. Zellner said the geese steer easily into the pins.

DNR attempts to relocate geese a minimum of 90 miles away “because who asks to move them doesn’t want them there.”

The birds — estimated at about 50 — will be relocated to either Lake George on the Georgia-Alabama border in Southwest Georgia or to the Altamaha River in east Georgia near Brunswick.

Some geese might return. Zellner predicts Cherokee Lake will have a new Canada goose population of maybe 25 next year.

“Word gets around in the goose world,” he said, adding that more and more geese will show up at the lake.

Canada geese are commonly known as a migratory bird, but many fly south and stay.

Geese graze on grass and prefer Southwest Georgia’s long grazing season, Zellner said.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820