Man shoots goose. Will the judge cook his?

The Chicago Tribune ^ | 3/15/2006 | Ted Gregory

[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.

[shelterguy]

I think that happens with alot of confiscated game. They want to donate it to a shelter but can't because it is not USDA approved or some such thing.

[buck61]

Believe me, they will hang this poor man, PETA will see to it.
I know what the man is going through, I have the same problem with them every summer at my boat dock at the lake.
If anyone who be reading this be very careful around the Goose droppings. My aunt several years ago had the bird flu, you wouldn't believe this but it is true.
She was in a shed with a loft looking for something and there were bird droppings on the items she was moving around. when moving them she created a dust from the bird droppings which she inhaled into her lungs. Several days later she had a flu like symptom, went into the hospital and almost died. She got so severe the Dr. called the family in
thinking she was going to die.
After getting through this and surviving the Dr's. told her she had contacted bird flu from the bird droppings.

[buck61]

LOL, that's funny and true.

[nomorelurker]

Our Quaker eats a Serrano pepper about every other day.

[buck61]

It will be years before children will be put on the endangered list, if ever.

[jjmcgo]

Skunks and black flies are natural predators. Go north, scrape the black fly eggs off underwater rocks into a jar of same water with rocks. Bring them home and dump them in the pond.
Around Memorial Day, arrange to buy a couple of skunks and have them released near the pond.
That's the weekend the black flies hatch. Take your 2-week vacation and get out of town. Tell no one what you've done. When you get back, ask Mr. Casino if he had a nice holiday weekend. Ask the neighbors if Mr. Casino's reddish, scabby face is an indication he's pounding the bottle (again).

[Echo Talon]

i know people have gotten eye problems from the bird poop.

[tomswiftjr]

Go here (http://www.fws.gov/laws/lawsdigest/migtrea.html), Migratory Bird Treaty of 1918. Found constitutional in the 1920s.

[buck61]

Wonder if he could make the state prove, the said bird migrated. I have seen some who never leave their area. If there is plenty of food for them they will stay put.

[monday]

"Casino is a former hunter who said he has seen too many innocent animals suffer at the hands of man."

Sounds like Casino needs to be punished for all the innocent animals he has made suffer. I think we ought to loan rifles to local PETA members so they could go on a Casino hunt.

[GnL]

Is it still legal to grab one and start stuffing food down its throat? I love foie gras.

[Calpernia]

There were complaints about using the meat for pantries in Union Co. also.

Matter of fact, there was even a thread here at FR about it when it happened. We got posts on it saying goose meat was diseased or no good. This is at FR!

[Calpernia]

Now that sounds familiar!

That must be it!

I think it is really time to get rid of the USDA.

[Terriergal]

Casino is a former hunter who said he has seen too many innocent animals suffer at the hands of man.

There are no innocent animals, there are no guilty animals. There are just animals.

If they got in the way of, say, a cougar, and the cougar didn't like it, the cougar wouldn't have mercy either. I think most of the geese that hide out in towns should be taken out.

[flying Elvis]

A pair of hawks built a nest next to my yard. No more geese problems.

[shelterguy]

Casino is a former hunter who says he has seen too many innocent animals killed by man. He had nothing good to say about hunting as he munched down a cheeseburger. S/

[CherylBower]

Where is that? I can't find it on the mozilla site.

[lesser_satan]

I think the rational is that since the birds are migratory, they don't fall under the jurisdiction of any particular state, and must be regulated federally. I'm not saying I completely agree, just that's where they're coming from.

[CherylBower]

Or, they're in league with beef, pig, chicken, and turkey growers who don't want the competition. Do I sound like a conspiracy nut?

[antiRepublicrat]

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