The end is near for the geese who flock around the pond near the Scarsdale Public Library.
The Village of Scarsdale, in response to complaints about befouled benches and grass in the area, is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to eliminate the geese by killing the birds and donating their meat to a food bank.
The adult geese will be captured during their molting period, and their nests will be treated with corn oil to prevent eggs from hatching.
Alfred A. Gatta, Scarsdale’s village manager, said earlier efforts to deter the geese using a border collie and noisemakers didn’t work.
“We’ve tried a number of different methods, and they were never successful. We’ve back off four or five years ago, and the geese population has multiplied. They leave their droppings everywhere,” Gatta said, adding: “People can’t even walk on the grass. They can’t sit on the benches. They can’t use the gazebo.”
Scarsdale is following in the footsteps of Westchester County, which worked with the USDA to eliminate 472 geese at Sprain Lake Golf Course last summer.
Just like then, Scarsdale’s plans are drawing criticism from animal activists who say humane alternatives haven’t been explored.
“There are so many (animal) advocates in Westchester. Contact us before you discuss killing them,” said Kiley Blackman of Yonkers, a member of Animal Defenders of Westchester.
She credits public outcry at the goose kill last summer with the county’s decision to purchase the “Goosinator” in the fall. The radio-controlled artificial predator chases the geese off golf courses or other areas.
Peter Tartaglia, deputy commissioner of the county parks department, said he isn’t ruling out another culling of the birds if the population rises sharply again.
Less than 100 geese live at the golf course currently, a number small enough to be daunted by the Goosinator.
“The number was so high. The Goosinator couldn’t have accomplished anything. Now that we have the number down, it’s residing at Sprain Lake,” he said.
The cost of the device, at about $3,000, is less than the $5,054 the village has set aside for its program with the USDA.
Gatta said that strategies that drive the geese off the park property are only a partial solution because the birds don’t go far.
“The largest problem is the droppings to into the water there and they wash into the Bronx River, and you get a high fecal count in the Bronx River and the state doesn’t like that at all,” Gatta said.
Loraine J. Izzo of Bronxville, a volunteer wildlife rehabilitator, hopes to contact Scardale’s leaders to figure out alternatives that don’t include killing the birds.
“I am appalled by the fact they want to do that,” she said. “There’s so many of us who are willing to help Scarsdale at no cost to them.”
6 Comments
round up and deliver these geese to the lawns of all the protesters
It is clear that Scarsdale has not gone about resolving the goose problem with any real knowlege about what works, because other communities HAVE lowered and maintained reasonable goose populations without killing them. The fact that they went with the USDA shows that they don’t know what they’re doing – the USDA is nothing more than a brutal killing machine that makes plenty of money off of unsuspecting communities. There was a 3 part series in the major Sacramento CA newpaper detailing the excessive killing and abuse by the USDA’s Wildlife Services animal killing division and their misuse of taxpayer money, so much so that Congress wants to investigate them.
Common sense should tell anyone that where you have water, you will have waterfowl; that is their natural home. However, you can alter the landscape to make it unappealing to them. There are different tactics for different types of areas, but if they start now and into spring, they will make a difference without killing. Managing geese takes a multi-pronged approach, but it does work, and one implemented, can be maintained by volunteers, and there are plenty of people who love geese and wildlife who are willing to help. There’s also a fantastic device called NatureSweep (www.naturesweep.com) that cleans up goose droppings from lawns, parks, golf courses so well that those places win awards for cleanliness! It even composts the droppings which can be sold for fertilizer (the best). It is expensive, but will last for at least a decade and could be rented out to nearby communities.Over the longhaul, it mis cheaper and makes more sense than kiloling. There is also Ovo Control, bird birth control, safe and used by resorts and communities, to limit geese and other unwanted birds without killing.
There is not a single documented instance of anyone every having gotten any illness or disease from goose droppings, and this includes circumstances where rescuers have been up to their elbows in goose poop during natural disaster rescues and field work.
As for donating the geese to food banks, because of eating pesticide-treated grass, most reputable food banks will not serve geese to the poor who already have compromised health. This donation routine is nothing more than a very poor way for officials to try to get people onboard with the killing, but it is reprehensible and offensive. I consider it no different than a murderer who donates the organs of his victims to a transplant bank. Charity? Hardly.
There are numerous organizations who can help and communities who have managed to find humane workable ways to co exist with geese. I suggest that Scarsdale look into this instead of going ahead with this very bad killing plan. Or maybe they would like to explain to the children of Scarsdale as they visit the library why its okay to read about Mother Goose but why they gas the poor creature in real life.
Well said by Ms. Steinberg. I second all her statements.
Its obvious the leadership of Scarsdale is seeking an easy scapegoat for whatever their ecological problems and what better target than the geese?
Polluted water? Blame it on the geese! Climate change and hurricanes? Blame it on the geese! Planes with faulty engines? (Can anyone say, “flight 1549?”) Blame it on the geese!
So, you had some people “complain” about the geese?
Just watch how many complaints you get after rounding up beloved wildlife and sending the geese to slaughter.
Explain that one to the children who ask what happened to Mother and Papa goose and their babies?
All the euphemisms in the world won’t cover the ugliness of carnage without cause.
Shame on Scarsdale.
I second Ms. Steinberg’s well thought out remarks. Rather than kill geese, how about we get rid of grass? Lawns are actually not a natural thing. Replace lawns with other more sustainable and environmentally harmonious landscaping. No grass, no geese.
The public should demand detailed information as to WHERE the geese
are supposed to be slaughtered/processed. The problem for these thugs
is that FEDERAL ( and likely state ) LAWS prohibit the slaughter and
processing of non-farm-raised waterfowl in licensed butcheries EVEN if
they hold a “POULTRY LICENSE”. Experience from several states ( incl.
Wisconsin) shows that these laws have regularly been violated by state
officials and USDA employees. They knew that the state would protect
them by ignoring criminal complaints. By slaughtering and processing
wild geese in a butchery these people put health and the life of thousands
of consumers on the line. In Wisconsin, for example, there were some human
death due to enteric contamination of meat and a state investigation regularly fails
to find the origin of this problem. This process fits the classic
definition of CORRUPTION.
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