Re: OT ~ Ping Hunter: Goose Poop & Abortion Controversy

On Mar 21, 4:34�pm, Hunter <airstreamingy...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:26:21 -0700 (PDT), "JanOrm...@xxxxxxx"

<JanOrm...@xxxxxxx> wrote:
If that doesn't work I can paste it up. I was amazed that
these geese poop 1 to 3 pounds of Goose Poop every day.

Paste it up please.

Hunter
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sorry for the delay. I was away working on my
Motorhome. Getting reay for our family jaunt.
Here's the paste up of that article:

Goose waste debate
Flap arises over plan to smother eggs
By Denis Cuff
STAFF WRITER

Article Launched: 03/21/2008 03:11:34 AM PDT

California wildlife managers have stepped into an environmental
dispute with a plan to resume smothering Canada goose eggs to control
expanding flocks that foul parks, golf courses and grassy fields.
The large black-and-white geese like lawns and lakes in the urban Bay
Area so much that many stay year-round rather than migrate north to
breed.

And the poop goes on -- 1 to 3 pounds a day from a single adult goose.

Recreation managers say the slime load from the nonmigrating geese
already was out of hand when bureaucracy made it even worse.

For the past two years, since a transfer of urban goose control from
federal to state agencies, California landowners have been unable to
get permits to apply oil to western Canada goose eggs to prevent
hatching, a process called egg addling.

"The flocks are getting larger. The waste is worse," said Warren
Schultz, the lake unit manager for the two-county East Bay Regional
Park District. "These birds can leave immense quantities of waste
behind them, on turf, in picnic areas and walkways."

The feces are a health risk to park visitors, and a route to spread a
parasite called swimmers' itch, which causes severe discomfort in some
people.

Regional park officials have pleaded with the state to hurry up and
restore egg-addling permission in Shadow Cliffs Regional Park in
Pleasanton, Lake Chabot in Castro Valley and Quarry Lakes in Fremont.
To block hatching, crews take the eggs out of the nest, dip them in
mineral oil to prevent hatching and then place them back in the nest.
A goose with missing eggs will lay new ones.

But getting state action on the geese birth control has not been
simple.

While some urban landowners see the Canada goose as a freeloading pest
drawn to man-made lakes and lawns, some bird watchers and hunters see
the bird as a majestic part of nature that should not be reined in.

"It is a dilemma for us," said Bob McLandress, president of the
California Waterfowl Association, a group with many hunters. "We're
reluctant to interfere with the goose's reproduction, but we're
sympathetic with East Bay Park's concerns about the mess."

Geese are popular to hunt in rural California areas during the hunting
season. In urban areas, bans on discharging firearms mean the geese
will be safe in parks and golf courses.

The waterfowl association opposed a plan before the California Fish
and Game Commission last month for a streamlined process to allow
landowners to addle Canada goose eggs in 18 counties -- including all
nine in the Bay Area.

Faced with opposition, the commission delayed action on the plan,
which had been scheduled for adoption Feb. 8 without discussion, and
will take up the proposal later this spring. By then, however, the
nesting season would be well under way, and it would probably be too
late to addle eggs this year.

Under the proposal, landowners in the 18 counties could go online to
fill out a permit to addle eggs.

A review by department employees would be required in rural counties,
where the goose is less likely to be a pest.

Dan Yparraguirre, a senior biologist in the state Department of Fish &
Game, called the plan a "middle path" to protect wild birds but
provide a way to limit damage by nuisance ones.

The plan does not allow killing of the geese, which have protections
under migratory bird treaties. Only the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
can authorize culling of flocks.

In letters to the state commission, some people said the geese should
be left alone.

The waterfowl association argued the plan made killing eggs too easy.
"Our biggest concern is that this becomes widespread," McLandress
said.

He prefers that the state consider relocating the eggs or young
goslings to rural areas.

Yparraguirre said relocation is expensive and finding someone to pay
for it would be a problem.

McLandress said he would like areas with goose problems to pay.

Meanwhile, park managers say egg addling is their most effective tool
to limit the explosion of Canada geese that has dirtied parks from
Lake Merritt Park in Oakland to Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek.

Walnut Creek park operators have tried applying goose repellent to
grass and hiring trained dogs to chase away the geese. Neither was
practical, said Dan Cather, the city's public services manager.

The geese flew away from the dogs to other parts of the 100-acre
Heather Farm Park and then flew back when the dogs left.

The repellent was ineffective, especially when lawns had to be mowed
for soccer and softball, he said.

"We tried everything without much success," Cather said.

Pat O'Brien, East Bay Regional Parks general manager, said his agency
wants narrow authority to suffocate geese eggs in recreation parks
with lakes, as it did for years with federal permission.

"We have a serious nuisance in a very small theater," O'Brien said.
"We think our problem can be resolved quickly and practically without
tying us to all the philosophical issues that the state is looking at
with geese."

Reach Denis Cuff at 925-943-8267 or dcuff@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Western Canada Geese

Classification: One of seven Canada geese subspecies, well-known
across America for their size, honking call and V-shaped flying
formations

Color: Black head and crown, long black neck and white cheek patches

Life Span: 15 to 20 years

Nesting: Lays one to 10 eggs, but usually five or six, in March, April
and May. Goslings can swim and walk within 24 hours of hatching.

Mating: Adults usually pair for life.

Conflicts: Growing numbers in urban parks and grassy areas have
created problems in the West.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
That's it.

Jan

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