Lies and More Lies Regarding Geese and Geese Police at Central Park

The four domestic ducks at Harlem Meer.  Will they fall victim to the lies of Central Park Conservancy and Geese Police over the winter?

Geese "Get the Flock Out!" Police at Harlem Meer early this morning.

Wintering sea gulls and early arrivals of some migratory geese at Jackie Onassis Reservoir this morning.

Small flock of migratory Canada geese who have arrived early for wintering at Reservoir. Unlike the hundreds of geese who stopped briefly at Reservoir last week before moving south, these geese attempt to stay at Reservoir over winter.

"If they lie to you about one thing, then best believe they are lying about any or everything else."

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Last week I was told by an employee of Geese Police that they "do not bother the three geese at the Boat Lake in Central Park."

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It made perfect sense that three geese on a large park lake would not be deliberately harassed and I therefore believed. 

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But that too, turned out to be just one of numerous lies told by both, the man of Geese Police and the Central Park Conservancy.

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This morning in a conversation with my friend and fellow bird lover, Liliana, I was informed that Geese Police is indeed harassing the three geese at the Central Park Boat Lake.

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"I was at the lake about 11:30 yesterday morning." Liliana told me. "There were just the three geese there. -- The one loner and the pair.  Then, a young man with a Geese Police shirt and a dog showed up. The dog chased and barked at the geese and they flew a short distance away to a rock in the water.  The man then used a large container filled with rocks and attached to a long, thick rope to hurl near the geese in the water.  Frightened, the geese flew away."

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"Three people approached the man and began to ask questions." Liliana continued.  "He told them it was important to make the geese move because they would attract other geese and he also told them the geese make a mess and are diseased.  I walked up to him and demanded to know why he was lying to the people?  He would not answer, but later when the people moved away, he accused me of harassing him."

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"Harassing him?" I laughed. "That's funny considering what they are doing to the geese and other waterfowl on the lake."

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I advised my friend to call the Central Park Conservancy to register complaint about the non-stop harassment of migratory and resident geese at Central Park  -- (212) 310-6669.

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Not only was Geese Police lying about the reasons for goose harassment (as well as where its conducted), but they were apparently using additional non-dog methods of harassment.   I was told by the Central Park Conservancy two years ago that only dogs were to be used for goose harassment.  (Of course, that too, might have been just another lie.)

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It is difficult when being lied to so often and about so many things to know what is reality and what is not.

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Park and Bird guides regularly lie to people regarding the domestic ducks in Central Park.

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Instead of telling the truth that these are flightless ducks abandoned to the park by irresponsible pet owners, the people are told that the ducks are either "hybrids" or "domestic ducks gone wild," neither of which is true.

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Is the continued reporting of non-facts to park goers due to ignorance of the tellers or deliberate intent to lie and mislead?

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Though some mistruths might be attributable to ignorance (such as the origin of the domestic ducks) we have to sadly conclude that most of the lies being told are representative of deliberate intent to mislead and pacify a questioning and concerned public.

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Some things we do however, know as current day fact in Central Park:

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Geese Police patrols the park every day and throughout different times of the day.  (Liliana saw Geese Police close to noon whereas I typically see them very early in the morning -- between 7:30 and 8:AM.)

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There are currently only three resident geese in all of Central Park (the three being continually harassed at the Boat lake).

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Geese Police activities are not limited to "resident" geese.  Five migratory geese were also harassed out of Harlem Meer last week.  This despite the fact the migratory birds would have left on their own accord a few minutes later.

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Any geese flying into Central Park from now until May of next year will in fact, be migratory geese.

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Migratory Canada geese are supposed to be a "protected" species under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and New York City is part of the Atlantic Flyway -- an airspace that millions of migratory birds pass through twice a year. Many of these birds stop briefly at the Jackie Onassis Reservoir to rest before traveling on and others actually winter at the world famous Reservoir.

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Several years ago, I was told by the Central Park Conservancy that the reason for harassing resident Central Park geese in the late summer and early fall was "to make room for the migratory geese that would fly in during the winter."

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At the time, I was skeptical of the explanation.  Now I know it was just another lie as the migratory geese are harassed at Central Park too.

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Aside from the animal terrorizing, waste of donor dollars and extremism of these actions, there is also to consider, the important and cooperative role that Canada geese play on nearly frozen park lakes and ponds in winter.

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Being larger and heavier than most waterfowl, Canada geese are instrumental in helping to keep pools of open water on otherwise, fast freezing watercourses.

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Geese are able to break through thin sheets of ice, thereby creating small pools of open water for ducks and other small waterfowl to swim and obtain food.

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Without the geese, the ponds and lakes of Central Park are likely to become solid blocks of ice over the winter.  -- A situation that will surely condemn to death, the flightless domestic ducks at both the Boat Lake and Harlem Meer.   Unlike the wild mallards who have option to fly out when watercourses freeze, the domestic ducks cannot go anywhere and will therefore be marooned to starve on frozen lakes.  

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Central Park Conservancy's answer to this likely scenario is that they "care" about the domestic ducks and will arrange plans for "rescue" should the park lakes freeze over.

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But, the Conservancy made no such plans for "rescue" of the four domestic ducks at Harlem Meer last winter.

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When the lake nearly froze entirely over during a heavy snow storm last winter, it was a large flock of Canada geese who miraculously  flew into the Meer to save the day for the domestic ducks and mallards.

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The geese helped to break up large sheets of ice quickly forming on the water.

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Should the same occur this winter, the geese will be immediately harassed out by Geese Police, thereby condemning the domestics at both the Boat Lake and Harlem Meer.

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One of the things told to me by the Geese Police employee last week was that Geese Police does not harass geese at the Jackie Onassis Reservoir because the Reservoir is "owned by the city, not the Conservancy."

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But, learning today that similar declaration about not harassing three geese at the Boat Lake was an untruth, I now have to wonder about and question this?

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After all, if caught in a lie about one and more matters, it is to virtually destroy credibility for everything else.

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Already, gulls, geese and other waterfowl are beginning to gather at the Jackie Onassis Reservoir for the long winter ahead.

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But, will they be spared the harassment that has virtually plagued every lake and pond in Central Park since the end of summer?

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The jury and lie detectors are still out on that one.  -- PCA

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