The bleeding-heart liberals and environmentalists and hunters all over the USA are having a field day because Bend, Oregon had a memorial service for 109 Canada geese that were euthanized because they are overrunning local parks.
The hunters are upset that the city of Bend didn’t allow hunters to go in and shoot the birds.
Never mind that these are parks in a town of over 100,000 people that draws heavily from tourism or that the parks in question are used every single day of the year by adults, children, dogs, and other wildlife (squirrels, ducks, swans, deer).
In addition most of these parks are located in high value residential or commercial neighborhoods.
Who would pay for the damage done to houses, commercial stores, vehicles, lawns, boat docks, etc by errant shotgun shells/pellets?
Can we guarantee that only the geese will get shot? Given the level of stupidity that allows some hunters to shoot cows claiming they thought they were elk, humans claiming that they thought they were deer or elk, etc I seriously doubt it.
Also, the meat from euthanized birds was properly packaged and distributed to local shelters and assistance programs. Shooting the birds even with a shotgun would have damaged the meat much more than euthanizing them did.
And for all of you who take offense to my comments about hunters, I am not anti-hunting. I know how to shoot handguns, pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Hell, I even know how to use a bow and arrow.
When I was 5 years old, I helped my grandfather clean and gut a deer. I ate venison and elk that my grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, and cousins shot each hunting season for 22 years.
I am anti-stupidity though, and allowing shooting in an urban park where the geese are NOT the only occupants strikes me as not only stupid but asking for trouble.
The bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists aren’t upset about the memorial service.
They aren’t upset that Bend, Oregon spent $22,000.00 in tax dollars last year solely to clean up goose shit.
They are upset that the birds were euthanized.
Maybe the bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists could volunteer to come to Bend, Oregon and clean up the goose shit themselves–for FREE.
I don’t think that they will be given free food or a free place to stay either, so they would actually be PAYING local motels and restaurants for the privilege of cleaning up the goose shit.
Then perhaps Bend, Oregon could spend the $22,000.00 in tax dollars spent yearly on cleaning up goose shit to create new jobs.
After all Bend, Oregon has a 10% unemployment rate and Deschutes County has a 14.7% unemployment rate http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/AllRates
Of course that won’t happen because the bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists already know that goose shit carries several nasty diseases.
Go Ask Alice http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/3669.html
Geese feces usually contain the parasites cryptosporidium, giardia, coliform, and campylobacter. Cryptosporidium poses the most serious health hazard, since it causes cryptosporidiosis, an illness with the following symptoms:
* watery diarrhea
* dehydration
* weight loss
* stomach cramps or pain
* fever
* nausea
* vomiting
Cryptosporidium was responsible for a 1993 outbreak of disease in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, when the city’s water supply became contaminated. One hundred people died and 400,000 became ill during this epidemic.
Giardia is no picnic either http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giardia
Coliform bacteria include the harmful E Coli, which has sickened or killed many people in recent years, while camplyobacter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campylobacter is implicated in spontaneous abortions in cattle and sheep as well as one of the main causes of bacterial foodborne diseases in many developed countries.
Seattle (WA) Parks and Recreation
http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/communitynotices/goosefaq.htm
Each bird leaves up to three pounds of droppings each day, much of it in parks, on golf courses, on waterfronts, beaches, athletic fields and other places. The droppings are expensive to clean up and make parks and other facilities unusable.
That is up to 327 pounds of goose shit each and every day of the year from the euthanized birds alone–a total of up to 119,335 pounds of goose shit per year from 109 birds.
That total doesn’t even address the fact that the birds are also depositing their shit in the Deschutes River and polluting it as well.
Oh and while the bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists are cleaning up all the goose shit for FREE (while paying for food and lodging), lets not forget that these birds are extremely territorial and will bite with little or no provocation.
They will also chase people as well as beat them with their wings. The feathers/wings of a Canada goose are not soft, they are rigid and they can cause nasty bruises.
The bites of a Canada goose are painful, can bruise the victim, and can draw blood.
And even though a goose doesn’t have teeth, does that mean their bites don’t carry diseases? Some geese have very raspy bills and the barbs on the bill can draw blood.
Normal healthy Canada geese would be up north not hanging around in an urban park in 90+ (Fahrenheit) degree weather waiting to be fed by bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists.
These birds are migratory when left to their own healthy devices without bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists feeding protecting and coddling them.
But the birds in Bend, Oregon have been fed and coddled and protected by the bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists for over 50 years now.
I was born and raised in Bend, Oregon and as early as 1964 (5 years of age) I was warned by my parents to stay away from the Canada geese in Drake Park because the birds were well known even then be extremely territorial. They are notorious for chasing, biting, and beating humans with little or no provocation.
Goose shit was already a problem back when I walked to school through the park in the 7th grade.
Bleeding heart liberals and environmentalists need to realize that the birds don’t just shit on the grass but on the concrete path and wooden bridge in the park. This makes it very difficult to avoid stepping in the goose shit!