Town rethinks plan to euthanize (kill) Canada geese
Wikimedia Commons
Source Long Island Newsday
By Jennifer Barrios
Previous alert HERE
North Hempstead officials are rethinking their plan to call in federal workers to kill Canada geese residing in town parks after the idea raised a hue and cry among wildlife advocates, who plan to protest Thursday in front of town hall.
“Everything’s on hold until we sort out what the best approach to take is,” Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman said Tuesday. “From our perspective, it’s important that we reduce the impact of the geese on our parks.”
The town board voted last month to contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to herd, crate and euthanize the resident goose population in town parks, then send them to be processed into food and donated to charity.
Town officials took the action after they said other measures, such as oiling eggs so they don’t hatch and using dogs to scare off geese, proved ineffective. The geese, which are not native to the area and have no natural predators, produce voluminous amounts of droppings, which foul waterways and fields, according to the town.
Last week’s town board meeting attracted 50 residents and wildlife advocates who spoke out against the plan for about an hour.
Edita Birnkrant, New York director of Friends of Animals, said Thursday afternoon’s protest, to be held in conjunction with Malverne-based Long Island Orchestrating for Nature, is designed to “send a very strong message” to town officials.
“What we’re hoping is that the kill option will be completely taken off the table,” Birnkrant said. “We will not rest easy until we know every single goose and their babies will be safe in the Town of North Hempstead.”
Kaiman said he didn’t expect the matter to appear on next month’s town board agenda, but he was open to hearing all options.
“If there’s a way to do it that creates less friction, then so much the better,” he said.
we are geese
and poop we do,
but guess what humans,
so do you.
we thank you for
doing whatever
you are able,
to take the not option
of killing us off the
table!
Karen Lyons Kalmenson
Our Compass 
Very good that the decision to cull the Geese are reconsidered. Tomorrow I will post a blog entry about my communities decision to cull Barnacle Geese because they their poop on the lawn! A terrible crime against the birds!
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I agree. I can post your blog entry with a sample letter if you can get a contact/s. Will that help?
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A very good idea! Thanks for your help! Unfortunately, perhaps it’s too late this year to prevent the culling , but for the next year , the politicians will rethink about the decision if they see that people are opposed to the culling. This is especially an outrageous decision as its the birds breeding season and the goslings will also die!
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Just let me know if you change your mind, hon.
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What happened to your site, hon, it says ‘no longer available’? Or did I not click on the correct link? I clicked on your name and your pic.
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? No, my site should be OK! If you Google my name anyway!
BTW, I’m working on the Geese culling post!
Cheers, Ann
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It works! Thanks, Ann, when I first clicked on your name, it said the ‘WordPress site was no longer available’. It must have been a temporary glitch that happened to my site, too. Thank you, Ann.
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They should do some research on how other communities have dealt with this kind of problem before. Geese recognize birds that may prey upon them like hawks and quickly leave when they are spotted. Other communities have used decoy coyotes (fake coyotes). Don’t they know how to use google?
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I hope so! Thanks for the wise words, WestDetltaGirl.
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Try putting up some wooden cutouts of Bald Eagles. They use these at the airport here in Oregon, and it seems to work. Geese everywhere, but at the airport.
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What an excellent solution. Hopefully they are aware of such. Thanks, Kellee.
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This is fantastic new Stacey im so happy they backed down!!
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As am I! Thanks, hon.
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we are geese
and poop we do,
but guess what humans,
so do you.
we thank you for
doing whatever
you are able,
to take the not option
of killing us off the
table!
LikeLike