How about those Naperville geese?

Looks like its time for a little appetizer! The Canadian Geese population explosion needs to be dealt with...time to sharpen up those hunting skills. Seriously, wasn't it like the early 80's when a bunch of tree huggers thought that they were endangered?

Geese are geese. Thet don't migrate anymore, make a pile of poop and we've got too darn many of them. The PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) folks will want you to love them, leave them alone and let them be. The PETA (People who Eat Tasty Animals) folks want to marinate and roast them with wild rice.

If the City will give me a few permits, I'll set up a few duck blinds throughout the City and along the DuPage River and offer my fellow citizens an effective method of pest control - a joke, maybe?!

If they were rats that built a nest there, would people still think it was cute? There are so many geese around that they are just like flying rats.

I have always had respect for all of nature, but when it comes to Canadian Geese, there is a line to draw.

First, why in the world these geese are federally protected is a mystery to me. Thanks in part to the over-enthusiasm of environmentalist and animal rights activists, we now have an explosion in the Canadian geese population in this area. This has resulted in these birds being virtually everything, leaving their droppings in places like playgrounds and along the Naperville Riverwalk. There have even been cases of near-missed autombile accidents because these birds will cross just roads, but major highways. And now, it has gotten to the place that you can't even go into a furniture story without risking being attacked by one of these things and in this case, children have been injured. Tell me this is not ridiculous!

If anything, there should be procedures in place to maintain the population of these geese, just as their are procedures to maintain the population of deer in this area. There has to be a place here where sanity and common sense prevail. If you are going to impose fines on anyone as far as these birds go, then make it on people who insist on feeding these things when they shouldn't be. Make areas like water retention ponds and the like undesirable for these birds to congregate and nest in. Generally, make things in such a way that these birds return to their migratory ways, so that their general populations will be brought back to a level that is normal and consistent.

We can all enjoy nature and its many wonders, and these birds are a part of that wonder. But thanks to idiotic government intervention, sometimes those wonders can be turned into nightmares, and what may be best intentions at first can eventually turn into situations like what we have now with these geese.

I will now step down off my soapbox.

I'm all for protecting nature, but have to say I'm fed up with the geese. We have a terrible problem with them in my neighborhood. The droppings are everywhere and plague every soccer field and playground. It's just nasty. If there's a petition out there to take action-- let me know and I'll sign it!

My family was quoted in the "goose article" today. We were all attacked and the store still is making a mockery out of it by running a naming contest. The Chicago Tribune ran an article last Saturday detailing how the store is being very opportunistic at a time their customers are getting attacked. I sent a letter to the owners of PM Bedroom Furniture who have responded with a sorry. They have no intentions to protect their customers any more than they have which was purchasing bandaids. As for the geese....There are no real benefits to having Canadian or any geese around our community. They are extremely nasty birds that only leave their mess behind and continue to procreate. Pick any golf course or open field with water nearby and they will be there. The soccer fields at Nequa are a complete disgrace. It is completely disgusting when walking through the fields to catch your kid in a Naperville Park District soccer game. Despite shoes being filled with goose droppings, so are strollers, wagons etc. Then it gets into your car and home etc. It's extremely unsanitary and must be stopped. I think local government needs to step in and determine what can be done.

Steven Giannone

Canadian Geese are protected by the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and
the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929. Violating this act is considered a federal felony. The act was originally enacted to protect the species thought at the time to be on the verge of extinction. Apparently the are not very extinct at this point.

The following link is an informative article on these "migratory" birds. http://www.american.edu/TED/geese.htm

Jus a little note for reflection…

Genesis 1:20-23
And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens."
So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth."
And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

The geese and any other creature on this earth is a creation of God and they are just doing what God bless them to do, “to be fruitful and multiply”. God saw that it was good.

I invite you cherish these rare circumstances where wild animals and humans share intimate moments. I am sure it is an intimate moment for the geese couple with their eggs and nature tells them to protect their nest. No harm done to us.

May God Bless or beautiful town of Naperville.

Steven,

Can I ask you what, exactly, you expected the store to do to protect you? They're unable to move or destroy the nest because, whether you and your family like it or not, the geese are a federally protected species. What, then, is the store's alternative?

Another note for reflection:

God put the animals on earth for man to harvest for nourishment. The government decided He was wrong, and protected this species of flying rats.

What a nice lite blog, great names, time to realize we are not the only species to share suburban space. Wonder if the geese would be better off without humane intervention.

After reading some of the comments here, there is one thing that everyone can do about the Canadian Geese right now. Write your congressional representatives, as well as Senators Durbin and Obama. Send them clippings of this article in the Sun, as well as copies of any pictures you have of the mess the geese are leaving in yards, playgrounds, and the like. Tell them your own personal stories of what has happened when you yourself have encounterd these birds. Then demand that they look at the current population of Canadian Geese in this area and then back at the Wildlife Service under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929. Based on both these acts, as compared to the current Canadian Geese population, insist that these birds should no longer be considered on the endangered list and that they be removed from the list immediately. Once that is done, actions can finally be taken to reduce the population to a reasonable level, as well as forcing the birds to return to their migratorial ways

In other words, Congress created this mess. It is now time for Congress to iniate the process to clean it up. But they won't do anything unless people start making noise about it. And I mean, a LOT of noise. Since this is an election, this may be the prime time to start something.

I will now step down off my soapbox.

In response to Curious as to what I expected the store to do.... The Tribune article also included commentary from a local naturialist expert explaining that the store can file for a permit to destroy the nests if the particular situation is dangerous to the welfare of human beings. His comment actually indicated that this situation is dangerous. 500 of these permits were granted last year. All it takes is the store (because it's there property) to request the permit. Secondly, I expected the store associates to stop feeding the geese. Feeding the geese will provide incentive for them to return next year. So, there are solutions....it's just a matter of whether they care enough about their customers welfare. My children. I also expected them to put up better signage to warn incoming customers. At the time of our visit, there was nothing to point out the hazard. Lastly, I'm an insurance guy, and this is a major exposure to loss for the store. All it will take is one major injury which turns into a lawsuit that will get the management to start moving towards a better loss prevention program.

I understand that these geese are God's creatures....but enough is enough.

Concerning what Mr Giannone said a moment ago, I am wondering if the reason why no action has been taken by the management of the store is because they are looking on this whole situation as a way of getting publicity for the store. You can't tell me since this whole story broke that there have been a lot of visitors out to this store just so they can see the geese, and maybe even see them launch an attack of something. The management of the store may be looking at this as a great way of drumming up additional business, so they even throw in this Name The Baby Geese contest to entice the kids.

My only problem with this is that if this is the case, people like Mr. Giannone's family have gotten hurt for the sake of getting free publicity, and as Mr. Giannone said, it is only a matter of time before someone is really going to get injured because of these geese and the owners of the store may then get more publicity than they originally bargained for, namely a lawsuit and possible shutdown of their business.

Perhaps it should be explained to the owners in trems they won't misunderstand that maybe would be a really good idea to file a permit to have the nest destroyed, while there is still time to do so. Because if a young child gets hurt out there because of these geese, what may have happen next may turn pretty ugly real quick.

Moderator Jim: Publicity is one thing but, obviously, if kids are getting hurt what's the point? Also, blaming the geese, in my view, is pointless - they're just doing what geese do. I'm sure it's not a good condition to be in for any animal about to have offspring i.e. being ogled by people etc. etc. It's a lose, lose for everybody....and I'm surprised the store hasn't gotten the message yet..

In reply to what Moderator Jim said, I wholeheartedly agree that it is foolish to blame the geese for all of this. As you said, they are acting as they normally would be.

My two problems lie first with the store owners who do have it in their power to act on the situation within the guidelines of the Wildlife Service under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929 (which, by the way, I think everyone can agree that both acts are way overdue for a major updating, especially in light of the present Canadian Goose population). But instead of showing concern for customers that are literally their bread and butter, the store owners seem to have chosen getting free publicity for their store, rather than file the necessary permits to legally have the nest removed. And as I said earlier, this may wind up costing them big time later on down the road, especially if a child winds up getting hurt.

My other problem is with the Wildlife Service. With all the latest technology we now have literally at our fingertips, they should be able to come up with an accurate assessment as to the present Canadian Goose population, not just in this region, but nationwide, and know that it is now time to have these geese removed from the endangered species list. When you have traffic being backed up on a major highway during peak rush hour because six geese choose to cross the road at that time, when you have public parks, golf courses and other recreational areas being covered with bacterial-laced goose droppings, and when you have people being attacked by geese for venturing too near a nest, when all they are doing is just walking into a furniture store, then it is time to do something about the situation.

These birds should have been removed from the endangered species list years ago, but as usual, due to governmental bureuacracy, we now have the present situation.

This is why I urge people to contact their elected state and government officials and demand that action be taken on this matter right now. As I said earlier, it is an election year, and people will find that officials up for re-election seem to have a more receptive ear, especially if it means potential votes in their favor.

Canada geese: masticate, defecate, propagate. That's it, end of story.

Here we have a very vivid illustration of what one would refer to as just one more government screwup. Government can't even manage to deal with geese and they want to control health care! Are you crazy?

By the way Spitter, I love the revised acronym for PETA, People who Eat Tasty Animals.

Moderator Jim to The Mayor: Very clever, though I am somewhat befuddled over all the seething anger lurking on this thread over these geese. Are they that big of a deal? When you see a squadron of them in flight, they look very majestic. What has caused them to become such of a nuisance? Just curious.

The problem is the waste,which a blogger has stated. Go into the areas she mentioned,the droppings are health hazard and a filthy nusiance. Walk thru these areas,like the soccer field and then tell us what you think.

Moderator Jim:

I love the majestic flight of Canada Geese as they spirit away from me to another pond or some fresh grass to decorate. It is the "on the ground" variety that become both dangerous and terribly offensive. The guano per goose delivered by these creatures is not to be believed. I was involved with coaching youth football for almost twenty years and in the early fall the poor kids got quite an education about the consistency and durability of the above mentioned "stuff".

People have an innate love for animals and when these angelic birthing factories even feint to cross a street, any street, even FOUR LANE thoroughfares, the panic stops by the animal lover occurs with virtually NO warning. This hazard, the emergency stop, is one of the few road hazards perhaps more dangerous than the mobile phone.

So you see Jim, these creatures are more than just a "nuisance", they are truly a risk to life and limb. Hope you now better understand my aversion to the "beautiful Canada Goose".

In addition to what The Mayor has to say about the danger of the animals crossing the street, I am very curious as to how the store will feel once those eggs hatch and Fred, Wilma and off-spring go wandering away from the nesting site and into the traffic on Route 59. It won't be so cute when there is a major accident or those baby goslings are run over. Has anyone thought about what's going to happen?

This should have been dealt with (via permit as stated above) before it became a publicity stunt and it turns ugly or dangerous.