C.A.S.H. Courier – Spring 1999
DEAD CANADA GEESE?
PLASTIC ONLY PLEASE!
The man who had hundreds of Canada geese killed in Clarkstown, NY has been
traveling around NY and NJ to encourage towns to use him as a model. If they did, of
course, they’d look as terrible and foolish as he did, but that’s not stopping him; we all
know that misery loves company. To get other supervisors to buy into his killing scheme,
Holbrook took his dog and pony show on the road (his expression for our non-lethal
presentations) and trotted down to NYC with the regional director of Wildlife Services
(notorious killers of the nation’s wildlife). They were off to convince supervisors who
were attending a conference of NYS Town Supervisors to kill geese. As Wildlife Services
gave their presentation, Holbrook sat in the back yelling out “kill ’em”.
Wildlife Watch and the Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese showed
up at the Town meeting and presented the supervisors with our non-lethal program, along
with a handout that portrayed Holbrook as the mean-spirited fool he is. Killing doesn’t
work, humane methods do, it’s that simple. Holbrook had no takers.
TOWN SUPERVISORS USE NON-LETHAL TECHNIQUES OF GOOSE
DISSUASION
Monroe, which is a town that has expressed having problems with Canada geese, is
excited about plastic “dead” Canada geese being placed around the parks to
frighten the real geese into leaving. Apparently it has had great success in Ontario and
in Ohio. The supervisor is so afraid that he’ll catch heck from animal rights folks that
he’s concerned about leaving plastic models of dead geese on the grass, thinking that
people will think they’re real. His is putting them on the pond instead. That would make
us feel better? Oh, well, I don’t know about you, but I have little objection to killed
plastic. Let’s wish them well. If it fails, we know of many other non-lethal techniques,
and if it works, please let us know. In Bogota, NJ, they are using decoy foxes and
coyotes, which they say are working beautifully to keep the geese away. The company that
sells them is A-1.
For more information about Canada Geese contact Dr. Gregg Feigelson, Chair, Coalition to Prevent the Destruction of Canada Geese ( a division of Wildlife Watch, Inc.) . Please get on-line to sign a petition keeping the USFWS from eliminating
restrictions on the killing of Canada Geese. If you do not have a computer, please contact
the Coalition at: Coalition to Protect Canada Geese (TM) PO Box 917, Pearl River, NY
10965-0917; 914 425-7116 Voice; 914 426-1525 FAX