• City Hall
  • Province House
  • Education
  • Environment
  • Investigation
  • Journalism
  • Commentary
  • @Tim_Bousquet
  • Log In

Halifax Examiner

An independent, adversarial news site in Halifax, NS

  • Home
  • About
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Commenting policy
  • Archives
  • Contact us
  • Subscribe
  • Donate
  • Manage your account
  • Swag
You are here: Home / City Hall / Municipality seeking winter refuge for Dartmouth geese

Municipality seeking winter refuge for Dartmouth geese

November 5, 2020 By Zane Woodford Leave a Comment

The geese returned to Sullivan’s Pond on April 20, 2020. — Zane Woodford

The municipality is looking for a winter home for the flock of geese at Sullivan’s Pond in Dartmouth.

Halifax posted a request for quotes on the provincial tender website on Thursday, “seeking submissions from qualified bidders to provide winter care for the Sullivan’s Pond geese.”

The contract will last for three years, starting this fall, with an option to renew.

The duties include “round-up, capture and transport” of the geese; food and water for eight to 12 geese from Nov. 20 to April 20; a report before returning the geese to the pond outlining “any outstanding health or behavioral issues;” and transport of the geese back to the pond.

“The municipality had a standing offer with Hope for Wildlife which has expired,” municipal spokesperson Maggie-Jane Spray said in an email Thursday.

“Under procurement policies, we are tendering for other potential services providers for this unique service.”

In May, one of the geese was removed from the pond and taken to Hope for Wildlife due to behavioural issues — namely, “exhibiting aggressive behaviour when park users got too close.”

Spray said no matter the outcome of the tender process, that goose will remain at Hope for Wildlife, in Seaforth, N.S.

Since that goose’s exile, there has been an addition of a gosling at the pond.

The tender closes Nov. 19.


The Halifax Examiner is an advertising-free, subscriber-supported news site. Your subscription makes this work possible; please subscribe.

Some people have asked that we additionally allow for one-time donations from readers, so we’ve created that opportunity, via the PayPal button below. We also accept e-transfers, cheques, and donations with your credit card; please contact iris “at” halifaxexaminer “dot” ca for details.

Thank you!




Filed Under: City Hall, Featured, News Tagged With: Hope for Wildlife, Maggie-Jane Spray, Sullivan's Pond geese, winter care

About Zane Woodford

Zane Woodford covers municipal politics for the Halifax Examiner. Email: [email protected]; Twitter

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

The Tideline, with Tara Thorne

Mo Kenney. Photo: Matt Williams

Episode #18 of The Tideline, with Tara Thorne is published.

Mo Kenney’s new record Covers is a perfect winter companion — songs from across the rock spectrum that she’s pared down to piano or guitar and turned them into sad ballads. She joins Tara to talk about choosing and arranging them, and opens up for a frank discussion of the alcohol dependency it took a pandemic for her to confront. Plus: Movies are back (again).

This episode is available today only for premium subscribers; to become a premium subscriber, click here, and join the select group of arts and entertainment supporters for just $5/month. Everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow to listen to it.

Please subscribe to The Tideline.

Uncover: Dead Wrong

In 1995, Brenda Way was brutally murdered behind a Dartmouth apartment building. In 1999, Glen Assoun was found guilty of the murder. He served 17 years in prison, but steadfastly maintained his innocence. In 2019, Glen Assoun was fully exonerated.

Halifax Examiner founder and investigative journalist Tim Bousquet has followed the story of Glen Assoun's wrongful conviction for over five years. Now, Bousquet tells that story as host of Season 7 of the CBC podcast series Uncover: Dead Wrong.

Click here to go to listen to the podcast, or search for CBC Uncover on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or any other podcast aggregator.

About the Halifax Examiner

Examiner folk The Halifax Examiner was founded by investigative reporter Tim Bousquet, and now includes a growing collection of writers, contributors, and staff. Left to right: Joan Baxter, Stephen Kimber, Linda Pannozzo, Erica Butler, Jennifer Henderson, Iris the Amazing, Tim Bousquet, Evelyn C. White, El Jones, Philip Moscovitch More about the Examiner.

Sign up for email notification

Sign up to receive email notification of new posts on the Halifax Examiner. Note: signing up for email notification of new posts is NOT subscribing to the Halifax Examiner. To subscribe, click here.

Recent posts

  • Body of work: pandemic coverage February 28, 2021
  • The Halifax Examiner’s mass murder coverage February 28, 2021
  • 3 cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Sunday, Feb. 28 February 28, 2021
  • ‘The rest is for the seagulls’ February 28, 2021
  • 4 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Saturday, Feb. 27 February 27, 2021

Commenting policy

All comments on the Halifax Examiner are subject to our commenting policy. You can view our commenting policy here.

Copyright © 2021