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CCH, try not to make direct comparisons like that. You open yourself up for refutals of your position based on silly conjectures like:
OK, since humans are just as ecologically worthless (on average) as Canada Geese, then in order to prevent them from being sucked in mid-flight and jeopardizing the crew and passengers, any humans seen loitering on Airport Grounds will be euthanized.
It does not address the real feelings of the issue. If you think that Grad brought up a weak point, just say so! (BTW, I think he was saying that although it is bad to kill, these guys are not really vital to the ecology of the area, so equating them to baby seals (not that anyone has) is not exactly fair).
But whatever.
Like I said, the shooting/poisoning/whatever should not be the only step. It should be the LAST step while other things are tried. You find the perfect scarecrow, you get 0 dead geese.
Do most ppl Moderator cut: do anything positive for the environment? Unfortunately no.
I guess we can presume that you're one of the "positives."
If you endorse vaporization of "most ppl": Plan ahead -- because the en-masse extinction of almost 7 billion people _definitely_ would stress the environment.
Last edited by Green Irish Eyes; 06-24-2009 at 12:26 PM..
Reason: Edited quoted text
Well, there's a tiny problem: if you just remove them, they'll come back. The bottom line is this: how many more geese have to fly into engines causing planes to go down? Or rather, for how much longer do you want this to go on? It was a simple choice of A) airplanes, or B) geese. And since you can't hop on a goose for a flight to Miami, well...
But if you kill them more will come. There are more reasonable and permint solutions.
Hmmm...just doing a quick search I found many canada goose recipes. I'm pretty sure in some places it is legal to hunt them and eat them (I think we saw something on Dirty Jobs). If they are going to kill them someone might as well eat them.
But if you kill them more will come. There are more reasonable and permint solutions.
If you chase them, they come back ... and you're talking about several hundred thousand geese, covering a huge area (and coming from beyond it) -- it's not just a few thousand geese living near a runway.
It's also not as if the goose problem just happened yesterday. The airports eliminated standing water and dumped gravel to discourage breeding. They've oiled eggs to prevent hatching. Anti-bird noise won't work over that expanse, and deterrent chemicals would cost a fortune, and with dubious effect.
It would cost $1 million-plus to re-landscape Rikers Island, which is a major breeding ground (and the birds would move elsewhere). And as noted previously: birds of prey only work vs. seagulls, and you can't plant dogs on every possible waterway and in every potential breeding area.
If a reasonable/permanent -- and immediate -- solution was currently available, they wouldn't be gassing geese and courting high-profile public hostility.
If they do come back, and we're allowed to hunt and eat them, then it's a wonderful sustainable resource for the city. One runoff-drenched goose a year shouldn't be too bad.
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(BTW, I think he was saying that although it is bad to kill, these guys are not really vital to the ecology of the area, so equating them to baby seals (not that anyone has) is not exactly fair).
