What do geese have to do with Katy and why are they on the highway sign?


Drivers on I-10 westbound will notice the sign welcoming them to Katy is decorated with bronze flocks of geese. Nonprofit Keep Katy Beautiful commissioned the 14-foot-tall statue, titled “The Landing,” in 2011.


As local historian Carol Adams explains in her books, “Historical Katy: An Illustrated History” and “Katy," the area’s creeks and prairie grasses have long been a fertile habitat for migrating Canadian and snow geese species.


Rice farming by American and European settlers drew geese to the field and wells, and by the 1970s, geese hunting was a major industry for the area. The city only had 3,000 residents, but nearly 6 million geese migrated to Katy by 1970.


Disappearing rice fields meant fewer geese migrated to Katy by the 2000s. However, prairie preservation efforts, such as those by the 25-year-old Katy Prairie Conservancy, are now starting to bring waterfowl back to the Katy area.