Arctic snow geese 'blizzard' hits Richmond, B.C. - again

The annual geese glut is in full swing in Metro Vancouver, as tens of thousands of Arctic snow geese overwinter in the region.

CBC listener Alain-Pierre Hovasse sent in some photographs he took on Wednesday between No. 1 and No. 2 roads in Richmond.

"They all look like they're waiting for instructions from the Great Goose as to how to proceed from here," he wrote in an email.

The Richmond snow geese gained international attention in 2013, when a YouTube video called "Geese tsunami" went viral.

• On mobile? Watch the "Geese tsunami" video here.

At that time, Jasper Lament, chief executive officer of the Nature Trust of British Columbia, called the effect "a blizzard of white".

There have been many calls over the years for a cull of the geese from those appalled by the quantity of goose poop that requires navigating on local parks and sports fields.

The City of Richmond has resisted such drastic measures, not least because snow geese are a protected species.

Instead, various efforts have been made to discourage the birds from certain areas, including a pilot using dogs to scare them off. That attempt was considered a failure after the birds just flocked onto neighbouring fields.

In the end, some at the city prefer to view the annual event as a potential tourist opportunity, encouraging the public to make a trip to take in the natural spectacle.