Friday, May 23, 2014

Big Yellow Goose Taxi


Napoleon at Harlem Meer.  One of last remaining (15) resident Canada geese in Central Park. (But, not to fret as there are always zoos to see the animals we've tormented and wiped out in nature.)
If it has been dispiriting to witness goose harassment, deaths, Public Relations "spin" and egg destruction in Central Park over the past month, it is nothing compared to what is planned for geese in other locations throughout the country. 
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Even more maddening is to note the deliberate attempts (by city leaderships and media) to deceive, mislead and convince a naive public that a slaughter of the geese on lake front parks is not only inevitable, but desirable. -- An "act of charity" claim the two news pieces below:   (Never mind that even some hunters refer to goose meat as "dog food.")
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The first news video out of Minnesota resorts to using a photo from Ontario, Canada (showing tons of geese on a lake) to not-so-subtly imply that the twin cities are being "over-run" by geese.  (That would be like me using a photo of goose-empty Central Park lakes and ponds to make the case that geese are going extinct nationwide.)
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Both news pieces go on to claim that city leaderships "explored all options" before deciding on goose slaughters to occur next month.
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And yet, the presence of goslings in both news videos disputes that. It seems neither location conducted either egg addling or goose harassment with Border Collies. -- Methods that as used in Central Park over the past few years have reduced the resident Canada goose population to nearly zero.
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So what exactly does "exploring all options" mean?
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We don't know because the reporters fail to ask the obvious questions in the above videos.  But, the term itself means virtually nothing other than sitting around, wool gathering and day dreaming.
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Nevertheless, judging from the reader comments to both media pieces, the public once again is either buying the slop or wallowing in indifference.
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Sure, one can always find one or two people distressed about the upcoming goose carnage in any location. 
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But, the bottom line is that most people "go along to get along." -- Even those who otherwise portend to "care" about protecting wildlife and the geese.
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One thing for sure, out of all this:
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All the deception, "spin," character assassination, harassment, egg destruction and slaughter will eventually culminate in emptying all of our parks of Canada geese. 
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What will we say then?
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"I remember when we used to have tons of Canada geese here.  They'd waddle in the water with their goslings and the children used to delight in and feed them.  Then, all the geese went away.  I don't know what happened."
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I for one, will cringe when hearing that. For step by step and day by day, "what happened" has been detailed in this blog for some years now.
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But, not to fret.
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Because we will still be able to see Canada geese in a zoo.  -- That is, presuming we have the $30.00 or so in our pockets to pay each visit. 
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"Don't it always go to show, that we don't know what we've got 'till its gone?
You play a pair of dice and put up a parking lot."  (Big Yellow Taxi, by Joni Mitchell.)
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Yep, put the trees in a "tree museum" and send all the geese to slaughter.
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And I bet even 20 years from now, most of those "donated" goose carcasses will still be gathering ice in food pantry freezers.
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Even the hungry are usually not that desperate for "dog food." --  PCA
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