A female Canada goose chose to make her nest at the entrance of our office building. On April 24th, she laid eight eggs. We've been watching her and the nest for just shy of four weeks now. Since this past Monday (May 18), neither she or the male have been anywhere near the nest and the eggs are completely exposed. What is the appropriate course of action (knowing that both the eggs and the geese are federally protected)?

Canada geese incubate their eggs for about 28 days. If the clutch was complete on April 24th the goslings should hatch in a day or so. If the hen has been completely off of the nest for several days then she has likely abandoned the nest and the eggs will not hatch. But if she was just taking a break the nest should be given a few more days. To be safe, I would leave the nest alone until Monday. If the goslings haven't hatched by then it is unlikely that the eggs were viable. In a natural setting the nest and eggs should be left alone for predators to scavenge the eggs. However, you can't have eggs rotting outside of an office building. The eggs and nest are federally protected, so you should call your local Illinois Department of Natural Resources district wildlife biologist to see if you need a permit before you remove the eggs and nest material. You can find the biologist in your area by going to the "Find a Professional" page of this website: http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/wildlife/professionals.cfm If you have other questions please feel free to e-mail me.