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Thread: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

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    Senior Member Speedbird1's Avatar
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    USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Have you heard that the USDA has decided that all Canadian geese, including baby goslings, pose a threat to aviation if they are roosting within 7 miles of an airport? I just learned that they rounded-up and gassed about 400 geese from Prospect Park in Brooklyn because they might cause a bird strike. This is ridiculous in my opinion. I can imagine what they will do at the Jamaica Bay Bird Refuge which is adjacent to Rwy 31L/12R. Couldn't there be a more humane solution? We musdt share our planet with these beautiful creatures.

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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    I don't see the big deal...Canadian Geese are basically rats with wings. They leave messes where ever they are, they destroy small ponds and lakes because their waste makes the water far too acidic for fish and plant life, they spread disease, they pose threats to airports, and they are basically nasty creatures if you get to close. Funny thing....with the amount of times I've travelled to Canada and all over Canada I never once saw one CANADIAN Goose...they should be called American Geese.

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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    I thought they've been doing this ever since US Air 1549...

    Couldn't there be a more humane solution?
    Wanna adopt them? :)

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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Speedbird1, no disrespect but maybe if you ever survive a future airliner accident brought down by these "rats with wings" or god forbid loose a loved one in a future aviation accident due to same you will feel differently. The threat is very real, trust me. Tommy very good analogy.

    Cheers

    LGA777

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    Senior Member NIKV69's Avatar
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Quote Originally Posted by LGA777
    Speedbird1, no disrespect but maybe if you ever survive a future airliner accident brought down by these "rats with wings" or god forbid loose a loved one in a future aviation accident due to same you will feel differently. The threat is very real, trust me. Tommy very good analogy.

    Cheers

    LGA777
    Every bird including gulls, pelicans and hawks pose a threat should we gas them too? This was an extreme and a knee jerk reaction to a sensational event that can be avoided by other means.
    'My idea of a good picture is one that's in focus and of a famous person doing something unfamous.' Andy Warhol

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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Quote Originally Posted by NIKV69
    Quote Originally Posted by LGA777
    Speedbird1, no disrespect but maybe if you ever survive a future airliner accident brought down by these "rats with wings" or god forbid loose a loved one in a future aviation accident due to same you will feel differently. The threat is very real, trust me. Tommy very good analogy.

    Cheers

    LGA777
    Every bird including gulls, pelicans and hawks pose a threat should we gas them too? This was an extreme and a knee jerk reaction to a sensational event that can be avoided by other means.
    A “sensational” event Nick? A freaking large jetliner safely ditched vs. nose diving in the Hudson because.. The event could have had a far worse outcome. How can you for a minute downplay such an event? These birds are far more a threat to planes then a flock of sparrows. Their size alone can do major damage to an engine. Much like how we hunt deer to keep their population in check the same should be done to these birds. The population of Canadian Geese is far too great and they do more ecological damage then good. In my town two ponds were laid to waste years ago because of them, their waste killed all the plant life and fish. All the Geese were "removed" from the area and the ponds restored to their natual element. Once the threat was removed other measures were put in place to keep them away.

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    Senior Member NIKV69's Avatar
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Much like how we hunt deer to keep their population in check the same should be done to these birds
    I agree but rounding them all up and gassing them is not conservation. Under your reasoning we should just round thenm all up and gas them? No, they are wildlife and it's thier natural habitat. Sure there are steps at the area NY airports that need to be taken but this is a little extreme.

    The population of Canadian Geese is far too great and they do more ecological damage then good. In my town two ponds were laid to waste years ago because of them, their waste killed all the plant life and fish. All the Geese were "removed" from the area and the ponds restored to their natual element. Once the threat was removed other measures were put in place to keep them away.
    Not true thier droppings doesn't do any of this.

    http://www.canadageese.org/doc3c.html
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    Administrator PhilDernerJr's Avatar
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    I think that gassing birds wtihin "x" distance of the airport should be completely legal. Simple as that. No one is saying to make them extinct. It's an easy bird vs. human comparison, and when there's risk of a plane coming down on my house, I'll vote for the birds to die.
    Email me anytime at [email protected].

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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Not true thier droppings doesn't do any of this.

    http://www.canadageese.org/doc3c.html
    Not true....Nick when you use a source use one that isn't going to be biased. Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese???? hmmmm no biasis there at all.

    http://web.extension.illinois.edu/wildl ... anadagoose

    In rural areas, large flocks of geese can damage agriculture crops. In urban areas, Canada geese can cause traffic jams, reduce water quality, contaminate lawns or golf courses with droppings and damage turf by grazing, or pose a safety threat when they fly near airports. When it comes to dealing with geese, preventing them from using an area is much easier than discouraging them from using a site once they are established. Once geese have found suitable habitat, it is very difficult to discourage them from using the site. If geese have already established themselves on your property, the best way to control them is to use a combination of management techniques.

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    Senior Member NIKV69's Avatar
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    hmmmm no biasis there at all.
    Well feel free to provide sources that support your claim about their droppings. Fact is their droppings are no different than any other bird and doesn't pose any danger to anything we have had hundreds of geese leaving droppings all over every golf course I worked at. Didn't do any damage whatsoever to the turf in fact it just dried up like any other animal's waste. People simply want them gone because they don't want them around.
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    Senior Member Tom_Turner's Avatar
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    The geese that hit the USAir airbus were likely migrating. Most of the ones near our airports appear to be local these days. It can certainly be argued we should dispose of them anyway "just in case", but the exterminating was done quietly this year in my opinion to avoid debate - sort of like Miegs Field.

    Guess it goes with the territory these days - this constant spraying over every foot of fresh water in 5 boros to prevent West Nile Virus from possibly killing less than a handful of people - some may say good regardless of the cost, but I imagine its because the costs are not discussed or compared to how else the dollars might be spent for "good" causes or rational goals elsewhere.

    Tom
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    I never knew Geese are so nasty until my Mother told me a story. My Mom was close to being attacked and one of her co-workers had a bone broken trying to protect himself when a Male flew at him. My mom works for a Water Authority company in Suburban Philadelphia. There is a nice pond on the companies property and lots of grass. So the Geese take over the entire area around the building - sidewalks, parking lot etc. My Mom noticed these two Geese - Female and Male that would hide in this bush next to the sidewalk for the entrance/exit for the building. She was going to her car after work and she heard hissing from the bush one day (that being the Male). It was later realized that they were watching the eggs underground next to the sidewalk but at a distance always from the bush. A couple days later as my Mother was leaving the lot she stared at the couple and they were aware that she looked at them.

    I believe it was 2 days later. She was getting her car to go to lunch of course walked past the couple on the sidewalk. The Male came out of the bush and I guess was fed up with my Mom looking at them and felt she is too close to the eggs when she goes by. As she was getting ready to open her car door. She heard some noise from him and turned around. He took flight and flew directly for her face. She was so scared she simple just threw her jacket over her head to protect herself as best she could. As he approached he changed direction because he simply lost his target since he couldn't see her anymore. She found out this is one of the very few instances (egg protection) where they will take flight for short distance. It's too hard on their body since they are so heavy. They rather walk everywhere.

    A week or two prior to her incident a co-worker again going to his car was attacked. Maybe the same Male...? Took flight and hit him with force that it broke a bone in his arm when he tried to protect himself. Those two incidents forced the company to start going out and finding all the eggs around the companies compound and I guess use some kind of piece of metal to stick in the eggs and scramble them up. The couple must have felt threatened by the passing of people. Bad spot for the eggs. Right next to a sidewalk... They are pretty smart though for at least the ability to remember what people look like that they see everyday.

    Needless to say, Geese need to be controlled as much as Deer population is.

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    Senior Member Big Tim #70's Avatar
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom_Turner
    The geese that hit the USAir airbus were likely migrating. Most of the ones near our airports appear to be local these days. It can certainly be argued we should dispose of them anyway "just in case", but the exterminating was done quietly this year in my opinion to avoid debate - sort of like Miegs Field.
    The USAir 1549 incident happened in January. The Geese migrate from late Sept to November.

    Many of the geese on Long Island & in the Hudson/East River area are geese that migrated from the north. We don't have anywhere near the same # of geese in the summer months than what we have from Mid Fall to late spring. That being said, we still have a lot of them as this is still their natural habitat.

    Gassing them, although harsh, is probably the one of the only ways to control their population. There are very few natural predators down here & in areas like parks where they're even more protected, they can get out of hand real quick.
    EVERYONE IS THERE TO SEE THE SHERPA!

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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    I absolutely hate these nasty things... GAS GAS GAS!!!!

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    Senior Member Speedbird1's Avatar
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    Re: USDA Secretly Gassing Geese

    Wow, I opened-up a can of worms with this discussion. I totally agree that these birds pose a danger but my point was that there could be a more humane way to handle the solution. NYC airports were built right next to bird sanctuaries so didn't they know back then about bird strikes? I also think that the way the gassing was done without warnings was not right. Why no public hearings? It was kept secret from the media so they must have known there would be protests from bird-lovers. Was it done late at night? If it was the only solution, they should have told the public in advance and not done it in secret. Even the MTA holds public hearings before raising the transit fares.

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