See: Killing Kangaroos: The Responsible Thing to Do
"A wild-goose chase, yes, but arsenal grows" by David Abel, Globe Staff | May 19, 2009
In recent weeks, workers from the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service have used special net guns to capture and then kill at least five overly aggressive birds, using carbon dioxide. The USDA already helps local officials keep eggs from hatching by coating them in corn oil - an effort that now takes place every spring from the Esplanade to the Public Garden to Jamaica Pond - but the oil has to be applied within a specific time frame or it is ineffective.
Monte Chandler, director of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Massachusetts, said his staff plans to continue using the net guns, which fire a net and create an explosive sound that helps disperse other birds. Chandler expects to kill more aggressive birds before the molting season begins. He said they have to be killed, because it is against the law to move geese from one location to another, since that could spread disease.
WTF? Don't geese migrate? Anything to justify murder, 'eh?
"For this to have an effect, you do have to reinforce the dispersal of the birds," Chandler said. "We can't relocate them, so we euthanize them offsite. I would think euthanizing them with carbon dioxide is a lot more humane than being shot."
I think LIVING would be preferable to the bird.
Hunting them all isn't a viable option, in part because local officials do not see that as a humane plan and because it is difficult to capture them with net guns and using shotguns would violate local and state laws against using firearms in an urban area.
"Killing them is not the answer," said Linda Huebner, deputy director of the advocacy department of the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. "It's inhumane, and I would say, a temporary solution. If you have a goose habitat, you will have geese."
Finally, a VOICE of SANITY!!!!!!!!
Other ideas local officials have considered include spraying coyote urine around the park, which apparently scares the birds away, although it could scare people away, too. They have thought about erecting fences along the edge of the river, because the birds like to waddle in and out, but that would mar the view. They have also considered landscaping changes and increasing the number of signs to warn people against feeding the birds.
Oh, thanks for reminding me to grab that loaf of bread.
"The geese are not going back to Canada, I can tell you that," said Sylvia Salas, executive director of the Esplanade Association, a nonprofit group that helps maintain the 3-mile ribbon of parks....
"We've tried fake coyotes, but the geese are smart, and it doesn't take them long to figure out they're fake. All the poop is really concerning - I'm as bothered as anyone - and it presents a health hazard. So, we're considering our methods."
Yeah, that is a problem, but what about our shit, human?
Can't we find a way to live with Mother Goose rather than murdering her?
Other options for reducing the geese population might be borrowed from local golf courses
--more--"Of course, murder isn't the only MSM solution for animals.
It depends on their agenda-pushing usefulness.
Related: Animals Advance the Agenda: Seals of Torture
Animals Advance the Agenda: Bats in the Boston Globe's Belfrey
Animals Advance the Agenda: Birds of a Feather
Animals Advance the Agenda: March of the Penguins
Animals Advance the Agenda: Vain Experiments
Animals Advance the Agenda: Flipper Surfaces
