Community Chat

[lolakimono]

Not sure how I feel about this...

I am going to put the article in a spoiler alert, so those who click on the thread might have an idea what this references.

Spoiler

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Park-Geese-to-Become-Meals-for-Maryland-Food-Bank-384434061....

Park Geese to Become Meals for Maryland Food Bank

Montgomery County, Maryland, believes they have an uncommon solution to a bird problem in their county parks.

Montgomery Parks plans to round up between 100 to 150 geese that have been creating safety issues in the facilities and humanely euthanize them. The animals will be processed and the meat will be donated to the Maryland Food Bank.

“These geese are year-round residents and create multiple issues for park users and staff. The excessive feces they leave, up to one pound daily, is not only unsightly but causes unsanitary conditions around bodies of water, docks, pathways, athletic fields and lawn areas,” Dave Petersen, Natural Resources Specialist for Montgomery Parks, said in a press release.

The park service has already tried different, non-lethal methods to get rid of the geese, including a ban on feeding them, habitat manipulation, fencing and repelling devices. Those methods have worked in some parks, but other parks, including the Martin Luther King Jr., Recreational Park and Rock Creek Regional Park, continue to have a problem with too many geese.

A federally permitted wildlife contractor will do the geese removal. WTOP Radio reported The Humane Society of the United States has voiced its concern over the plans and would prefer the park system exhaust every non-lethal type of management.

“For us, it’s the first time we’ve used this method, but it is by no means unprecedented in our area,” Peterson told WTOP.

[Pearlee]

Gee, all the parks I've known of that have had a geese problem hire a person with a trained border collie dog to chase them out!  A much better solution!  

[charvale]

I share mixed feelings @lolakimono with you. If we're meat eaters how do we decide which animals we 'protect' and which we don't. Granted it's a dilemma.

[CrazyDaisy]

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@Pearlee wrote:

Gee, all the parks I've known of that have had a geese problem hire a person with a trained border collie dog to chase them out!  A much better solution!  

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Unfortunately when they over populate an area they either come back or become a nusense in another areas close by.  In some cases a permanent solution is necessary.

[ValuSkr]

Seems like a sensible solution.  I don't eat meat but so many people do, so goose meat is no better or worse than any other.   Unless of course it's foie gras.

[september]

Geese were once on the endangered list, I think.  But now they're everywhere, and no longer migrate.  I live near a golf course, where they use very loud "bird bombs"..,that are like loud fireworks, to scare them away.  It's alarming and disturbing to those of us who live near the golf course, and often....the geese set down in our backyards after they've been scared off the golf course. 

I find big piles of slimy wet poop quite often. 

[NativeJax]

I live in condos and on the river. They are a nusance! They ****** everywhere! I would think they would be good gator bait but I haven't seen a gator in probably five years. I think if people are hungry and this can help those that are hungry I do not have a problem with it. They are abundant where I live and some of the residence feed them and they shouldn't! Anyway, they could also do this with the gators...why not feed the hungry gator and deer (they are over populated at times). To kill the animals for anything other than food I do not agree with.

[DoneTryin]

Not sure how I feel about it, either.  Way back in the late sixties, my boss told me one of her sons & his roomates grabbed a goose from our large city park & used it for food.  They justified it by saying they didn't make much money, needed the food, it wasn't any different from going off into the woods to hunt, & the geese are not an endangered species.  While I found it mildly amusing & very gross, my boss was appalled & told the guys to just ask her for money when they needed groceries.

[goldensrbest]

I love hearing the geese flying over my house,and this spring there were a bunch that made their.homes down the road from me,that has a river running through it,fun seeing their babies growing, so i just don't know about this, isn't there some kind of birth control they could put out for the geese to eat, i don't know if there is anything like that for animals.

[wildcat fan]

I don't view our neighborhood geese as a problem.  Each evening after dinner my husband and I enjoy strolling to the pond to visit them.  Amazing how quickly the little ones grow.  The parents were here last year and returned this year.  We feel lucky they chose our pond and enjoy watching them.  

Yes, there is feces but that area of grass is some of the prettiest green grass in the neghborhood.  Last year they left after July 4th fireworks, and I'm guessing they will leave about the same time this year because the young ones have gotten their feathers.  I hope they don't end up at that park.  While I understand a need to feed people at the shelters, I am wondering if there is a better solution.  

My father hunts ducks and geese.  One year my mom made them for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.  She went to great lengths to find recipes, but I didn't like it at all.  I guess if we're hungry we'll eat anything, but I'd be happier with a bowl of cereal or rice than I would be with a plate of goose or duck.