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Man shoots goose. Will the judge cook his?
The Chicago Tribune ^ | 3/15/2006 | Ted Gregory

Posted on 03/15/2006 12:10:48 PM PST by RushCrush

Like a lot of homeowners, Larry Tomko has grown weary of geese. He's tired of scraping poop from his driveway with a snow shovel. He's fed up with boorish geese gobbling millet he leaves for chickadees. He feels overrun when dozens of the feathery transients loll in the pond a few steps from his yard.

When his frustration brims, Tomko has run out his front door waving his arms and shouting at the geese. Sometimes he launches bottle rockets at them. About 10 years ago, he started firing pellets from an old air rifle at the geese. They would squawk and flee.

Then on Feb. 26, he killed one, accidentally, sort of, with the pellet gun. Geese are federally protected, and neighbor Jack Casino saw it. Casino is a former hunter who said he has seen too many innocent animals suffer at the hands of man.

Now, Tomko has a date with the criminal justice system. And the incident has generated anxiety in the bucolic, unincorporated Winfield Township subdivision, transforming the place into a microcosm of the decades-long conflict known as man versus goose.

(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; Miscellaneous; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: animalrightslist; banglist; chicago; donutwatch; geese; guns; wildlife
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To: B4Ranch

Actually no. My sister's friends told me that when I was little.

I guess they were teasing me.


41 posted on 03/15/2006 12:49:19 PM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: RushCrush

"Tomko was charged with unlawful taking of a migratory waterfowl, a misdemeanor violation of the Illinois Conservation Code. "

If I were him, I'd challenge "migratory."

Mrs VS


42 posted on 03/15/2006 12:49:59 PM PST by VeritatisSplendor
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To: B4Ranch

>>>Oddly, it always involves New Jersey.

You know I'm in Jersey, right?


::lowers head in shame::


43 posted on 03/15/2006 12:50:19 PM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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To: B4Ranch
"Alka Seltzer tablets wrapped in bread dough balls causes the desired results. Something about birds not being able to burp."

That works great on seagulls too...lol

If you don't want to kill them, try hollowing out the dough ball and filling it with Tabasco sauce, they won't be back!
44 posted on 03/15/2006 12:50:32 PM PST by Beagle8U (An "Earth First" kinda guy ( when we finish logging here, we'll start on the other planets.)
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To: RushCrush
He feels overrun when dozens of the feathery transients loll in the pond a few steps from his yard.

Build a fence Einstien.

45 posted on 03/15/2006 12:50:36 PM PST by Doomonyou (FR doesn't suffer fools lightly.)
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To: RushCrush

We have excerpting rules for a reason. And they don't include so you can post more of the story as a reply.


46 posted on 03/15/2006 12:53:27 PM PST by Admin Moderator
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To: Doomonyou

Birds fly.

Einstein.


47 posted on 03/15/2006 12:55:12 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Beagle8U

Tabasco sauce isn't worth having in the kitchen. Use chopped habenero peppers for the full effect.


48 posted on 03/15/2006 12:56:29 PM PST by B4Ranch (The truth is good for you, like sunlight, but too much all at once can really hurt.)
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Here in Indianapolis, we have those stupid birds all over the place. They are nothing but vermin. I don't blame the guy for popping one of them.


49 posted on 03/15/2006 12:57:15 PM PST by xusafflyer (Mexifornian by birth, Hoosier by choice.)
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To: Zavien Doombringer

My parents have a pond with about 300 geese that hang around and poo everywhere. When bird flu finally arrives here, it's spread in the poo of infected animals and can live in the poo for over a month during cold times. We called the state to find out what we're allowed to do to get rid of the geese. There's a goose season in the fall that they're talking about extending this year to cut down on the numbers, but the fall will be long after bird flu gets here.
They have 4 non-lethal things they allow:
1) Floating fake alligator heads. Geese are afraid of alligators.
2) Floating fake dead geese. Sort of like a reverse decoy.
3) Several companies make non-lethal repellent you sprinkle on the grass.
4) A sonic alarm that plays the sound of scared and agitated geese.
But you can't shoot 'em. At least not in Maryland.


50 posted on 03/15/2006 12:57:22 PM PST by pie_eater
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To: fritzthecat
But if I touch them, the neighbors go ballistic! I'm precluded from even threatening them in any fashion.Grrrr.

We live on Lake James here in Western, NC and would probably have the same problem with the neighbors. Hence the use of a .22 sub-sonic.

Upsides: Quiet, nolouder than a pellet gun. Ammo is dirt cheap

Downsides: Limited range, will not chamber subsequent rounds in a semi. Ergo, if you want to load more than one round at a time, I use a 4x scope mounted Marlin lever-action with 17 rounds in the tube.

51 posted on 03/15/2006 12:57:33 PM PST by Cobra64
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To: BulletBobCo

52 posted on 03/15/2006 12:58:37 PM PST by proud_yank (Liberalism - The 'Culture of Ignorance'.)
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To: ArrogantBustard
I sincerely hope that your acquaintance did not sustain serious damage to his Jeep Cherokee.

I live in a suburb of DC and there is a pond near the main road to my neighborhood. Near this pond the geese wander around all the roads. One day I was driving home in my 97 suzuki sidekick when a group of 3 waddled right in front of my car and despite slamming on the brakes I ran over one with my left rear tire.

I looked in my rear view mirror and saw it walking away. I knew that the suzuki sidekick was really light in the rear, but that day I resolved that my next car would be heavy enough to squash a goose.

53 posted on 03/15/2006 12:59:51 PM PST by ko_kyi
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To: Calpernia

I would love to see a pigeon explode from some sort of nice quiet trick like that. Oh really, I would!


54 posted on 03/15/2006 1:00:09 PM PST by B4Ranch (The truth is good for you, like sunlight, but too much all at once can really hurt.)
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To: pie_eater
But you can't shoot 'em. At least not in Maryland.

Except during goose season ... which is 'way too short, and the bag limits are 'way too low (One per day?!?!?!).

-Bustard, who eats dead gooses

55 posted on 03/15/2006 1:00:12 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: Shalom Israel
This is MY solution!




56 posted on 03/15/2006 1:00:14 PM PST by proud_yank (Liberalism - The 'Culture of Ignorance'.)
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To: pie_eater
"Floating fake dead geese."


Made me recall a Monty Python skit:

'crunchy raw unboned real dead frog'

http://orangecow.org/pythonet/sketches/crunchy.htm
57 posted on 03/15/2006 1:02:03 PM PST by Atlas Sneezed (Your FRiendly FReeper Patent Attorney)
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To: ArrogantBustard
Build a 30,000 foot tall fence.

Duh.

58 posted on 03/15/2006 1:02:06 PM PST by Doomonyou (FR doesn't suffer fools lightly.)
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To: ArrogantBustard

If I remember right, geese even taste like shlitz. But it's been awhile.


59 posted on 03/15/2006 1:02:21 PM PST by shelterguy (I can hear "Jimi".)
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To: ko_kyi
but that day I resolved that my next car would be heavy enough to squash a goose.

ROFL!!! Words to live by ...

60 posted on 03/15/2006 1:02:28 PM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilisation is aborting, buggering, and contracepting itself out of existence.)
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