A Pest Nontheless

 Finally, an official ruling that may actually prove beneficial to Oregon farmers. In response to the pleas of farmers in the Willamette Valley, who have literally been overrun and had their crops decimated by invasive Canada geese, federal and state officials have agreed to allow farmers to hunt Canada geese on non-hunt days from now until June first. Canada geese have been an on going and ever growing problem for farmers in this area for a considerable length of time now. The agreement comes at a time when the goose population in the valley alone has reached astronomical proportions, between two hundred eighty thousand and three hundred thousand; far above the original estimate of one hundred eighty-five thousand. Traditional hazing techniques are just not effective when it comes to the increasing problem of large groups of resident geese, geese who have chosen rural ag sites as traditional brood rearing and molting sites due to the close proximity of an abundant food source, an “all you can eat buffet” as it were. Canada geese are perhaps lovely to look at, but a pest nonetheless; a pest that can now be dealt with accordingly.