A Goose Problem

For a lot of people the sight of hundreds of Canadian geese in a field or along roadside areas is a thing of beauty, but for farmers, park and golf course caretakers and occasionally private residences Canadian geese are something nightmares are made of. Especially in the Pacific Northwest the Canadian geese problem has reached mammoth proportions. These birds are noisy, dirty, and extremely destructive, not to mention vicious. Millions of dollars in damage is done each year to crops by these migrating geese who eat, crush and defecate on everything they come in contact with. To make matters worse these birds are becoming permanent squatters in areas they had only moved through on their way to greener pastures in years past. The fact that some of these geese are a "protected migratory species" even though they don't migrate any longer makes it a sensitive issue when it comes to reducing their numbers. One writer had an interesting solution, the "unprotected" geese could be rounded up and processed for food banks. Oregon could have a whole new marketing slogan, "Canadian goose, it's what's for supper".