New rules target geese problems

It seems to me that if they become a problem, then towns should be able to do what they need to do to minimize that problem.

However, it seems to me that there is a more important task we need to do first. Why is it that 40 years ago when I was a kid in Marlton, and it was much more rural than it is now, I never saw Canadian Geese except in the fall and spring when they flew over my house? We are doing something different that is attracting them. If we can solve that then the problem may go away. Maybe!

Guy
 
TeeGate said:
It seems to me that if they become a problem, then towns should be able to do what they need to do to minimize that problem.

However, it seems to me that there is a more important task we need to do first. Why is it that 40 years ago when I was a kid in Marlton, and it was much more rural than it is now, I never saw Canadian Geese except in the fall and spring when they flew over my house? We are doing something different that is attracting them. If we can solve that then the problem may go away. Maybe!

Guy
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There may be two things in play there. First is that the area was much less developed then and the geese had more remote places to go. Second, I think that DDT and pollution had a lot to do with their scarcity back then. I also do not remember seeing Turkey Vultures, Herons or Egrets when I was a kid.

Steve
 
Good points Steve. Come to think of it, I rarely see the Canadian geese hanging about in the deep woods though. They seem to prefer the short grassy banks of residential type ponds. When I was little in the 70's and early 80's I remember it was a big deal to see them fly over head in Monmouth county.

Jeff
 
I have no official research to refer to this to back me up . . . but when i was taking environmental science (and later ecology), i was taught that development created more "grazing areas" (aka parks, golf courses, lawns), and that natural selection also played a role.

A majority of waterfowl migrating for the winter were shot dead by the ridiculous amount of hunting south of the mason-dixon line. As a result, the (initially smaller) percentage of canada geese that decided not to fly south eventually became the majority of geese to survive---passing on their non-migratory tendencies to the next generation. Factor in growing habitat availability/food source in our overdeveloped state, factor in our lack of predators necessary to keep the populations in check, and the only logical end result is a bunch of geese shitting up your front lawn.

I know this theory will probably get me jumped by the hunting advocates, but in this case the "population management technique" screwed us. Honestly--if I knew that going to virginia would mean i'd get shot---i'd stay the hell out of virginia.


-Bob
 
Didn't realize this was that much of a problem, although there are a good
Bit of them out my way hunters or not. It does seem that like many animals they do go for easy pickin's and the downed corn fields etc., & "safe" areas for them would most certainly be appealing.
 
When I lived in upstate NY near Lake Ontario there were large numbers of the geese, along with great blue heron and other impressive birds. You were not supposed to eat them then (late 1980's) due to concerns about toxins (dioxin I think?) from the fish they ate in the Great Lakes.

I know they have been a problem around here for quite awhile, have read articles about them in residential areas since I've been in South Jersey (1994). In Medford Lakes 5 or 6 years ago I recall they closed beaches and had to treat lake water due to goose poop.
 
Bob,
That looks to be a good summary of the situation to me. It's the newly resident geese, not the migrants, that are the problem, and I'm glad the powers-that-be are using a bit of that inappropriately-named commodoty "common sense" to deal with it. These newly resident lazy greensward grazers are a blight on the artificial "nature" they've been provided.


But remember, the migrants continue to need help and support with habitat preservation AND re-establishment. Ducks Unlimited and the Nature Conservancy are two organizations doing yeoman service in habitat preservation and renewal, but we're way behind where we should be with regard to wetlands conservation - both in the northern breeding grounds of our waterfowl and in the mid-latitudes where the migrants are finding fewer and fewer suitable stop-over points in migration.

Dave
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Bobbleton said:
i was taught that development created more "grazing areas" (aka parks, golf courses, lawns), and that natural selection also played a role.

A majority of waterfowl migrating for the winter were shot dead by the ridiculous amount of hunting south of the mason-dixon line. As a result, the (initially smaller) percentage of canada geese that decided not to fly south eventually became the majority of geese to survive---passing on their non-migratory tendencies to the next generation. Factor in growing habitat availability/food source in our overdeveloped state, factor in our lack of predators necessary to keep the populations in check, and the only logical end result is a bunch of geese shitting up your front lawn.

I know this theory will probably get me jumped by the hunting advocates, but in this case the "population management technique" screwed us. Honestly--if I knew that going to virginia would mean i'd get shot---i'd stay the hell out of virginia.


-Bob
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