There is a love/hate relationship going on with geese in these parts. We are on a flyway so we get to see a lot of them. One road has a Geese Crossing sign to help drivers be aware of their presence and be careful, while another has a Do Not Feed the Geese sign to encourage people to dissuade them from staying. Geese are beautiful birds with a heft and dignity to them but then they are also rather messy in their bathroom habits. They are incredible to see migrating in their V formation but pretty noisy when they gather on ponds, in parks, and occasionally at a housing development. They are family oriented but not for human families; it is risky to get too close, as they will charge. So do we nurture, ignore, or discourage geese? I guess it depends on how much face-to-face contact with nature a community desires.
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People who share their property with the birds only see the worst. It is hard to love them when they've taken refuge in your favorite park.
ReplyDeleteI deal with geese on the river ~ spectacular when they skim the water ahead of our boats (especially at sunrise), disgusting when they leave the docks a slippery, smelling mess of impassable feces (which we, grossly, have to walk through, without shoes, while carrying our boat!). Both events happen with equal regularity. With no predators and an endless supply of people who feed them, the geese are here to stay. I'm all for a catch-spay-release program, much like they do for feral cat communities.
ReplyDeleteI know just what you mean! We get greater white- fronteds outside our house every fall. I love photographing them for the week or so they are here- but walking around outside after they've gone is quite messy!
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