"If It Doesn't Make Sense, It is Not True" (Goose Carnage Defies Common Sense)

As Bald Eagles (our national symbol) were deemed "vermin" in past centuries and nearly wiped out in the United States, Canada geese have been declared the new 21st Century "pest" to be targeted and nearly extirpated.

My favorite TV personality is Judge Judy Sheindlin.

She is noted for saying, "If it doesn't make sense, it is usually not true."

One imagines the famous judge would have a field day with USDA WS as virtually none of the excuses they offer up for goose massacres around the country make any sense.

For examples:

"Airline Safety."  

CAUSES OF PLANE CRASHES: "50% pilot error, 7% other human error, 12% weather, Mechanical failure 22%, sabotage 9%, all others less than 1%." 

Bird strikes actually compose 0.68% of causes for plane crashes. And of these, Canada geese represent a tiny percentage of that miniscule figure. 

Of course, much hoopla and justification for goose kills occurred following the "Miracle on the Hudson" incident in January of 2009. 

But, in that case an airliner (which on the previous flight experienced "engine stall" problems and almost had to emergency land),  collided with two migratory geese from Labrador, Canada.  Passengers report scare on earlier US Airways Flight 1549 - CNN

Planes frequently hit birds, but almost never land in rivers. 

That this one did, should have raised alarm bells among the media and the powers that be, but tragically didn't.

Since 2009, thousands of resident Canada geese have been ruthlessly rounded up and massacred in New York City with not one human made "safer" when traveling on an airliner.

Yesterday's plane crash in San Francisco illustrates this point.  -- A crash almost certainly involving pilot error and/or mechanical issue:   http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2013/07/06/airline-crash-san-francisco/2495099/

Moreover, had we killed every resident goose in the United
States prior to the 2009, "Miracle on the Hudson," it would not have prevented the incident that involved migratory birds from another country and a mechanically compromised plane. 

Surely, Judge Judy would ask, "Why are you killing the rabbits when it was the gas tank that blew up the car?"

"Goose Poop" 

Geese are grazers and grass eaters.  Their droppings are comprised of mostly recycled grass. The droppings have no odor and often appear like mud.  While mud is usually not pleasant to walk through, it is not harmful to human health.  Neither are goose droppings. When composted, goose droppings serve as cheap and effective grass fertilizer.   But, here is the bottom line:  Every living creature on the earth (including humans) poops.   That we would specifically target one species for massacre because of this, in Judge Judy's words, "makes no sense."   

One could just imagine the famous judge saying,  "My two little dogs poop!  Are you going to kill them, too?"

"Destruction of Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge Salt Marshes."  

USDA WS and their accomplices are obviously seeking other justifications for killing geese as the ones they have offered up so far are full of holes. 

I cannot personally say what is causing damage to JBWR salt marshes, but it makes no sense that the wildlife and waterfowl this area was created to "protect" would be the cause of wetland habitat destruction.  Especially (as pointed out yesterday) waterfowl flying into the area for six weeks out of an entire year to molt.   

Last year, more than 700 geese were killed from JBWR.  And yet, they claim to still have "problems" this year. 

Could it be the hurricane that struck NYC last year and caused billions of dollars of waterfront damage and destruction?  Could it be sewage runoff damage?   It is not for me to say.  

But, it is for any thinking person to question how waterfowl causes "destruction" to wetlands and waterfront properties -- their natural habitats.    It makes zero sense.  

One could hear Judge Judy ask, "Do fish destroy the oceans?"

"The Geese are Overabundant." 

From the New York Observer, 7-3-13:

"The government is apparently trying to nearly halve the Canada goose population in 17 Atlantic states, to 650,000 from 1.1 million." 

 

 One needs to imagine the bureaucrats sitting behind desks in Washington and figuring out the "optimum" population of any species. Thousands of species are headed towards extinction, but apparently Canada geese have done fairly well despite climate change, loss of natural habitat and hunting.

What then? " KILL 'Em!" the bureaucrats clamor!

There was a time when the powers that be determined that all birds of prey were "vermin" and needed to be extirpated in this country.

By the 1960's there were for example, only 400 breeding pairs of bald eagles in the United States.

Not wanting to see the nation's national symbol wiped out from both hunting and the deadly effects of DDT, the congress and the President (Nixon) finally passed laws for environmental protection and the banning of DDT in the early 70's. 

Yes, the eagles have apparently been saved and have since been removed from the Endangered Species List.

But, now the new target for extirpation is Canada geese.

No, the government is not seeking to wipe out Canada geese entirely as the birds are still a desirable hunting target.

But, like the eagles and other raptors, the geese have been depicted and declared "pests" and in some cases, even vermin.  No doubt the "war" against the geese is very much on as it was against our national symbol a hundred years ago.

But, let us consider what eventually happened to Passenger Pigeons who at one time existed in the hundreds of millions.  The last one went extinct early in the last century.

A little more than one million Canada geese for the entire east coat doesn't seem like a huge number -- especially when one considers we get more than a million people at a typical Times Square New Year's Eve celebration.

Judge Judy probably wouldn't ask the question, but I am:

What happens when these same bureaucrats figure out that the human population is "overabundant?"

"Feed the Hungry" 

Of all the rationalizations for wild goose carnage in NYC, this is the most laughable and disturbing.   In fact, even Martin Lowney of USDA admitted in a phone conversation last year that the geese "yield so little edible meat" it was not a reason for roundups.   

The typical Canada goose weighs more than ten pounds -- and yet only provides less than one pound of meat.

The (taxpayer) costs of rounding up, transportation, slaughtering and distributing these birds for human consumption ultimately makes Canada geese more expensive than caviar to "feed the poor."  (And that is not counting costs to ideally "test" the geese for pesticides, PCBs, mercury and lead contaminations.) 

Apparently, instead of testing the geese for toxins, "warning labels" are put on the meat to " not eat more than once a month."  Perhaps they should really read, "Eat at your own risk and possible peril."  

What would Judge Judy ask of this sham?   "When are you rounding up park squirrels and robins for human consumption?"

Yesterday, I wrote of absurdities to explain atrocity.

It was simply a more philosophical way of saying, "If it doesn't make sense, it is usually not true."

Only when it comes to USDA WS roundups and massacres of park and wetlands Canada geese, one can omit the word, "usually."  -- PCA

                                                            


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