County to round up and gas Canada geese

The Newark Star Ledger ^ | 06.29.03 | ROBERT E. MISSECK

[Coleus]

Thousands of resident Canada geese that have been fouling Union County's public parks and golf courses with their unhealthy and unsightly droppings will be destroyed this week, officials said.

The county is moving into this drastic stage of its geese management efforts only after years of "exhaustive" alternative methods of controlling the burgeoning population of the nonmigratory birds failed, said Charles Sigmund, the county's parks and recreation director.

[yooper]

"Totally off-topic, but did you know that only about 1,000 people contribute to keep Free Republic up and running? That is out of over 100,000 registered users on this site."

I'll admit to being one of the 99,000. This is one of the hottest sites on the web, and as such it is majorly marketable. I'd rather see the site supported by advertising dollars; JimRob could sell the front screen for way more than these fundraisers are getting. He chooses not to do this for what I'm sure are admirable reasons.

That aside, flame away if you will; however, I've never paid to to visit a site and I never will.

[Alberta's Child]

I'd rather see the site supported by advertising dollars . . .

Once you introduce that commercial angle to this site, I think all bets are off and the site will disappear because copyright laws probably prohibit the posting of stories from other media outlets on a commercial site.

[yooper]

"Fort Lewis put two swans, they kill geese, in their pond to try to scare the geese away. The geese have the swans hiding in the water and have continued to breed. One of the swans has passed away and the remaining swan still is in the pond."

Well, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe that swans kill geese. The Canada goose is one badass MF when threatened; I don't believe a swan could defeat a goose.

"According to the game wardon, who I got this story from, these birds carry inherent diseases that can poison humans through their waste. They are not protected, nor do they migrate."

They are not protected, but they do indeed migrate, unless they have no reason to leave (e.g. food source). Also, any animal waste source can sicken a human; the Canada goose doesn't present any additional threat above that of any other animal. Don't put any type of poop in your mouth and you'll be OK.

All here; the main reason the Canada goose is an annoyance to humans is pretty simple. They get in the way and mess up your yard. The same can be said for many dogs.

[yooper]

Oh, one other thing: I highly recommend that you talk to someone besides a game warden if you want an educated perspective.....

[HighWheeler]

"John Hadidian, director of the Urban/Suburban Wildlife Protection Program at The Humane Society of the United States, strongly disagrees.

"We don't approve of its use in this situation. We have described this (use of carbon dioxide) as mass killing" he said."

How much you wanna bet he is comfortable with the mass killings in Iraq in the last 25 years?

[yooper]

"Once you introduce that commercial angle to this site, I think all bets are off and the site will disappear because copyright laws probably prohibit the posting of stories from other media outlets on a commercial site."

Well, I must admit I hadn't pondered that point, but I still believe it can be done. As I recall, FR was hauled into court not long ago by a couple of liberal rags I won't name, regardless of advertising.

Perhaps explaining this in the "solicitation" posts will increase donations? I can't speak for others, but I know that I would view the donations in a different light if I knew JimRob had no alternative to the fundraisers...

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Statement: "County to round up and gas Canada geese"

Response: Sounds like a real gas!

[Coleus]

You are being logical, these kooks are not, a bunch of hysterical men and woman who worship mother earth and animals; they are inherently evil.

Liberals, animal rights activists, the media who showed a picture of geese getting killed in Seattle Washington, etc. Lots of public pressure from a select few.

As I  pointed out with the abortion issue above, they would rather let people starve than to kill an animal for food.  They're nuts but well organized.

 

Union cuts short goose-gassing program
07/03/03) UNION COUNTY - After paying the Federal Agriculture Department $20,000 to kill 2,700 geese, Union cut short its controversial goose-gassing program. County officials say they less than a 1,000 birds were killed before the program was stopped because of scheduling conflicts.

The goose-gassing program lasted two days instead of its contracted three days. County Manager George Devanney said the program was stopped a day short because the Fish and Wildlife Service had other "scheduling commitments."

The Humane Society vocally criticized the program. Representatives told News 12 New Jersey that killing geese was inhumane and they fought to stop the gassings. The county, on the other hand, argued that geese droppings were out of control and unsanitary.

Union Parks Director Charles Sigmund said the county took a number of steps to get rid of the geese, but nothing has worked. Sigmund said the county tried chemical spraying, putting motorized boats in ponds, and even letting dogs chase and scare the geese. He says none of the methods proved successful and geese continue to leave unsanitary droppings all over county parks and golf courses.

Share your views

[Salman]

What a waste. Allow hunting them and people will pay for the privilege, instead of ot costing the government money.

[Alberta's Child]

As I recall, FR was hauled into court not long ago by a couple of liberal rags I won't name, regardless of advertising.

And I may be wrong about this, but I believe FreeRepublic's defense in this case was that they could not be held liable for copyright violations because the owners of this site did not "sell" the material from these sources (i.e., through paid subscriptions to this site or through advertising revenue). Think of it this way: Someone who gives away a newspaper is not violating any copyright laws, but someone who clips a bunch of articles out of several newspapers, publishes them in his own newspaper, and sells ads in this newspaper probably does infringe on the copyrights.

As part of the settlement, FR agreed that entire articles from any of these sources would not be posted on FR -- instead, excerpts would be posted and a link would be provided to the source's own site.

Because FR sells nothing but covers its operating costs through voluntary donations and allows all users the same level of access regardless of how much they donate, I believe it is shielded from any accusations of copyright violations.

I can't speak for others, but I know that I would view the donations in a different light if I knew JimRob had no alternative to the fundraisers.

I'm pinging Jim Robinson himself on this reply because he may clarify or correct what I've posted here. Also, he may take your suggestion under consideration and modify some of the fund-raising solicitations.

[LOC1]

I believe that foxes are the primary predator in native geese nesting grounds in Canada. In New Jersey, snakes might survive the winters and could also be predators. In Texas, where I live, the primary predators would be snakes and alligators. The various raptors; eagles, hawks, etc. might be marginally effective geese predators, but geese are large birds and only the goslins would be at risk.

Insecticides and rat poison might also work, but the doses would be so high that most other benificial animals in the area, if any are left, would also be affected.

[ValerieUSA]

It was YUMMY and fed a family of five.

[Scenic Sounds]

Thanks. Seems like something has gotten out of balance with these geese. ;-)

[oyez]

Ship them to Canada. Its their damn geese.

I wonder how a goose would taste deep fried in peanut oil.

[LOC1]

There was a change in the federal hunting regulations some years ago which outlawed the use of lead shot when hunting ducks or geese. The reason was, ducks and geese ingested the lead shot from the bottom of ponds and marshes. They suffered lead poisoning and some died from it. Others were not able to reproduce as well. Steel shot or tungston shot are now required to hunt waterfowl.

It seems like the increase in Canadian Geese population may have occured following that change in the federal regulations. Not certain if that is the cause, but it is a contributing factor.

[capt. norm]

You're absolutely right. Plus, they're delicious when properly roasted.

[Jim Robinson]

We are using copyrighted materials under the fair use provisions. One of the four factors is that we are a non-commercial operation using the material for non-commerical discussion purposes. I think if we sold advertising, merchandise, subscriptions or memberships, etc, we might be endangering our non-commerical status. The judge ruled that we are commercial because we accept donations. We believe she is wrong. Time will tell.

[Calpernia]

Ok, WHY are they killing these geese and throwing them away? I'm against that!

Why not use them. Donate the meat to a food pantry! I'll take a few. How can you just discard something for being annoying?

[Calpernia]

Humans

[Calpernia]

bump!