It’s obvious to everyone but the most ardent animal
lovers that we have a serious problem on our hands with the monstrous Canada
goose population. There are now so many resident geese that they have become as
ubiquitous and unpopular as ring-billed gulls (“sea gulls”), birds that many
people unaffectionately consider flying rats. Unlike gulls, which tend to be an
obstacle only to development (see Lockport’s Super WalMart), resident geese
pose real problems to the environment, the economy, and human safety.
Since they breed like rabbits (one clutch can have
15 eggs) and are colonial in nature (many families assemble in one area and the
so-called “gang broods” can have up to 100 goslings), they can alter the
chemistry of ponds with their abundant feces. An adult goose will produce
almost 2 pounds of it a day. Those droppings, in such great volume, can over-fertilize
a pond, killing the fish within. They contain everything from salmonella to E.
Coli, which sickens mammals that drink or feed at that pond or anyone who might
look to take a dip in it.
Adult geese are grazers and in large flocks they
can really do a number to farms when they feast on corn, beans, and alfalfa just
as the young and supple plants emerge from their planting. This does irreversible
damage to the crops and the losses to New York farmers are in the millions of
dollars every year.
What really attracts the attention of policy
makers, though, is the threat geese pose to safety. This came to a head in the
Empire State in 2009 when a flock of geese accounted for the downing of Flight
1549 onto the Hudson River, just 4 miles from LaGuardia Airport. All 155
passengers and crew survived thanks to the expert piloting of Captain Chesley Sullenberger.
If it weren’t for “Sully” they would have met the same demise as the plane
itself, which is forever gone to the tune of $60 million. In the past decade
there have been almost 80 reported goose versus aircraft strikes in the United
States. Sooner or later, one of those collisions will take dozens of human
lives – just as one did in 1995, destroying a $161 million air force plane
while killing all 25 people aboard.
To combat these issues, state, federal and local
officials decided to do something about it. In 2009, New York’s goose
population was estimated to be 250,000 birds. They want to get the numbers down
to 80,000 – a major undertaking considering the population grows 10 to 17
percent every year. So, it is now practice for many government organizations to
round up and gas flocks of geese, issue nuisance control permits that allow
out-of-season and mass killing, and destroy and/or poison eggs. Most recently,
in a move that caught the ire of activists, the state allowed hunters to take
more geese per day (15, up from 8). As
evil as these measures may sound to animal lovers, they are necessary for all
of the aforementioned reasons and more.
As a side note, resident geese should not be
confused with migratory geese, those harbingers of spring and fall that pass
through here in huge numbers every year and are a welcome sight and sound to
nature lovers. Those birds frequent larger bodies of water and are just passing
through, individual flocks staying anywhere from a few hours to no more than a
few days. It is important to keep with federal law and protect these travelers
with limited seasons and bag limits while they are on the wing. These visitors
from the Far North pose limited threat to Man and are a welcome part of the
environment.
Resident Canada geese are pests, a scourge, and,
most appropriately, an invasive species. Ironically, from the late-1950s to
1970s they were introduced to New York and were managed to populate the state
by the very governments and agencies now looking to wipe them out. They didn’t
belong. But conservation and game officials thought they did. And now we, and
the geese, are faced with the unsatisfactory outcomes of those decisions.
Gasport resident Bob Confer also writes for the New American at TheNewAmerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer.
This column originally appeared in the 16 September 2013 Greater Niagara Newspapers
Gasport resident Bob Confer also writes for the New American at TheNewAmerican.com. Follow him on Twitter @bobconfer.
This column originally appeared in the 16 September 2013 Greater Niagara Newspapers
No comments:
Post a Comment