Sports: Good for the Gander?
It is always interesting when wildlife come into contact with humans.
In a world where the humans are the apex predators and basically assumed as “in charge,” it’s fun to watch as the majority of us have no idea of what to do or when to do it when it comes to dealing with the furry, feathered critters of the world.
Look no further than the Canada goose problem in Arkansas in North Little Rock’s Burns Park. That issue practically made the news every night for weeks in 2011, as people from all over gave their two cents on what to do with one of nature’s most prolific pooping machines when it decides to take up residence in an area built by humans for their enjoyment.
Cute and cuddly animals are just fine … until they relieve themselves in mass quantities. One expert estimated Canada geese relieve themselves as many as 92 times a day. That’s an incredible number, only slightly more incredible than the idea someone actually counted.
No one likes to play golf, forced to putt around piles of goose goo, while our children are skidding, sliding and running through soccer fields littered with droppings. There is a potential health risk, which spurred the initial need for some sort of management.
Much of the debate was over a scheduled hunt to take place within the park to trim the geese back to “manageable” numbers — whatever that means. It doesn’t matter how much poop is created, when folks start talking about a hunt, it’s sure to hit the fan. By the time this issue went to press, two scheduled hunts had been delayed indefinitely in the face of opposition that wanted the city to use more humane tactics.
There we go, as humans, wanting all things to fit our human ideas. That’s what got us into messes like this in the first place. This isn’t the goose’s fault, it’s ours for wanting to have as much of everything we can without considering the consequences.
Take a look at a little history of the Giant Canada Goose, the perceived culprit in this story. In the 1950s, they were thought to be extinct or at least close to it. Then in 1962, a small flock was discovered wintering in Rochester, Minn., by Harold Hanson of the Illinois Natural History Survey.
During the next three decades, groups — funded largely by hunter dollars — worked to bring the big goose back. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission even introduced them to the Arkansas River Valley in the 1990s.
Today they are considered one of the most widespread waterfowl species in the country and, in some ways, a wildlife management success story. Others consider them pests. If you dream for a home on a lake or golf course with a manicured lawn, then you will likely fall into that latter group at some time.
A critter that loves manicured, fertilized grass and litters your lawn around 92 times a day doesn’t do a lot for aesthetics, not to mention water quality in your pristine lake or the smell of jonquils wafting across a summer breeze.
The problem, though, still exists. While an organized hunt was the best solution for the short term, it’s likely that we haven’t heard the last of goose problems in Burns Park. Remember the history: from near extinction to widespread pest status in just a few decades.
The geese are here to stay and could possibly be coming to a nicely-cut lawn near you. Which makes one think, maybe they are looking at this all wrong. The geese are there because of the managed grass all around the golf course and park area … do away with the manicured, fertilized grass. Let the park grow up and become totally unusable for humans and the geese will leave for greener pastures becoming some else’s problem.
Of course, that doesn’t make sense either. Parks are supposed to sustain and increase our quality of life in a humane way. Someone forgot to tell the geese. They would, of course, get the message if hunting, the quickest most sensible way of trimming the numbers, is allowed.
There are a lot of things that we still have to figure out about wildlife. Until we do, as much as we would like to have everything go our way, sometimes we may be, as the saying sort of goes, “… out of luck” when it comes to geese.
