While most public places have a problem with squirrels or pigeons, the Milwaukee County Zoo has a problem with Canada Geese. They’re everywhere. This is a problem not just of the Zoo’s but of many suburban areas that are in the Canada Geese’s migration pathway. Many people think they are a nuisance and would like to hunt the geese or perform mass extermination to reduce their population, but the Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese is detirmined to find a humane, non lethal way to eliminate or minimize conflicts between Canada Geese and humans. I like the geese, I think they’re beautiful, but I know what a pain they can be. I used to live in a house that was on the Fox River and they could be so loud.. and when you have a bunch of them on your lawn… let’s just say their poop isn’t small. But I don’t think this is a reason to start killing them at whim.
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ยป Sunday Morning at the Milwaukee County Zoo
14 responses so far ↓
1 tien // Apr 19, 2004 at 4:58 pm
hmm, i think the real question is if they taste any good. if so…problem solved!
oh, you should check out winged migration. it’s pretty interesting.
2 Mom // Apr 19, 2004 at 4:59 pm
I agree with Rachelle !
3 A Kaleberg // Apr 19, 2004 at 6:37 pm
Canada geese taste AWFUL. I know people who have tried eating them.
Canada geese are also deadly invaders and drive out many other species of birds. They are large, organized and aggressive. In many ways they are just like humans.
I was down in New Zealand last year and saw a flock of Canada geese hassling a flock of the local Paradise ducks. The outcome was obvious. It won’t be more than another decade or so, and the Paradise duck will endangered. Luckily, the New Zealanders know what to do with invaders. They’ve gotten their wild deer population under control, and when the time comes, they’ll probably deal with the Canada geese.
BTW, They got the deer under control by shooting and capturing them from helicopters. It was apparently the wild west down there back in the 1970s.
4 matt // Apr 19, 2004 at 9:34 pm
Blech. I hate geese. Geese are the new pigeons!
Oshkosh has a nice park along lake Winnebago with an excellent walk path… that’s completely covered in a layer of goose crap! I really think the park is useless because of all of the fecal matter lying about - in the grass, on the paths. I wouldn’t let my child run around down there.
Oshkosh supposedly sprayed some nests in hopes of reducing that year’s birth numbers, but it seemed like the little buggers thrived on it!
They’re like little gangs of thugs too. They loiter on the paths until you practically run them over with your bicycle. I think I saw one throw up a gang sign too!
5 rachelleb // Apr 19, 2004 at 9:41 pm
do you mean menomonee park?
6 Richard // Apr 19, 2004 at 10:57 pm
menomonee park has lots of gulls too, don’t they? or at least they used to when we used to go there when we where kids.
7 mom // Apr 20, 2004 at 5:37 am
We were just down there a couple weeks ago and Matt is correct. And we didnt’ see many sea gulls or ducks at all ! Just geese ! and the crap was everywhere. Also they must eat crayfish and the “remains” were on the sidwalks and walking paths too. There’s like an island between the park and the point that they’re building a bridge to now. The island is LOUD with birds of all species. The geese are always a menace in the zoo area during the summer also. And those geese are MEAN too.
8 whatisee // Apr 20, 2004 at 8:08 am
They are supposed to be “migratory”, but have found out that if they stay up here for the winter, they get fed by the local humans. They especially like golf courses, leading to inevitably bad jokes about “getting a birdie”.
Also, their “leftovers” is one of the most disgusting sticky substances known to man or fowl.
9 John // Apr 20, 2004 at 8:12 am
I live across the road from the Fox River in Rochester, WI and I see several hundred geese a day - they seem to have a convention center on the bend in the river across from our house. They don’t really come in my yard much, so it doesn’t bother me. It’s actually pretty cool to see 200 geese flying right over the top of my yard/house, hearing their wings, etc. I haven’t been hit by any incoming projectiles yet anyway!
My yellow lab (Theo) just stares up and watches them fly over, dreaming some dream of dog paradise, all the geese he can get ahold of for hours on end (he has a toy, stuffed goose that is pretty much like his teddy bear - since he is afraid of our cats though, I’m not sure what he really would do with a real goose).
10 matt // Apr 20, 2004 at 7:10 pm
Yep, Menominee Park. That little island is mysterious. I think it’s just a ring of land, but one thing is for sure - the birds own it.
11 A Kaleberg // Apr 20, 2004 at 7:22 pm
There isn’t a whole lot you can do about Canada geese. One or two things have helped:
1) Canada geese have the worst wing loading in pounds of obnoxious bird per square inch of wing so they need lots of take off space. If you place strings at regular intervals, perhaps 15 feet apart, the geese will realize that they don’t have take off space and will stop hanging around. Obviously, this only works in certain areas.
2) At least one company in Massachusetts (Raytheon?) had a remote controlled robot to hassle the geese. If you had a few spare moments you could play goose wars and drive them nuts on the corporate lawns.
As for me, I’m sure that Canada geese can be processed to produce energy. They are fat and they are organic. I’ll bet a proper heat treatment will produce some sludge usable as fuel. Wow, imagine entire cities run on Canada goose organic fuel product!
I think I’ll take my pill now.
12 joe s // Apr 21, 2004 at 9:07 pm
That first picture is great, though it brings back traumatic memories. I was bit by a goose when I was a little kid. Things were never the same between us after that.
Did you see any baby geese? The pair of geese that hang out on our campus had five goslings yesterday morning.
13 Richard // Apr 22, 2004 at 6:35 am
We didn’t see any babies, but we did see a goose sitting on a nest.
14 Joshua lange // Sep 12, 2005 at 10:21 am
my church has a yard the size of a foot ball field if not bigger. we get geese in there all the time, they must think it’s an all you can eat buffet out there! and when they eat they have to make room for more so they empty themselves right in the yard and none opf the kids can go play out there anymore. i was wondering if it was legal to kill them out there if they are a nuisance.
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