Tag Archives: Canadian Goose

A Win Win

Geese are dirty animals.  And they breed like rabbits.  And where they intersect with humans, they are a nuisance.

And they are protected by the Federal Government [which means, by the way, that a goose has more federal protection than an unborn child.  But I digress.]  And because they are protected by the Federal Government, you can’t just shoot ’em like you can shoot a raccoon or a skunk or a rabbit.

So, only by complaining to said Federal Government can action be taken:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday euthanized 20 of the approximately 100 animals in the Woodlake subdivision in southwest Durham after residents complained their neighborhood had become overpopulated.

The Canada geese were a nuisance, residents say, leaving feces in yards, walking trails, lakes and other public areas, including the neighborhood pool.

Now, to be sure, we are not talking about threatening the population of the geese:

The USDA says that as of 2006, there were 97,000 Canada geese in the state.

The population has increased exponentially over the past 40 years. In 1970, there were approximately 250,000 resident Canada geese in the U.S. By 2010, that number jumped to 3.5 million.

We’re just talking about too many geese.  Perhaps to the point that the population is a threat to itself.

Anyway, I promised a win win.

How about instead of protecting the geese to the point of over population, we do what other people who are hungry do–and hunt the geese for food?