'we Have To Seriously Consider Killing Some Geese,' Says Mayor David Spaulding

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janeeng

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ok, so call me ridiculous after this, but I think killing of the geese or Addling goose eggs is disgusting. Guess I am just the nature freak who thinks this is WRONG!!!!!!!! :)

NORTH BRUNSWICK: New tactics in the endless battle to control the Canada geese population are being explored by township officials.

Spraying affected areas at Jersey Avenue and Orchard Street and Commerce Boulevard and Hartland Commons Road with chemicals to deter the geese "worked for a while," said Louann Benson, director of Parks and Recreation.


JOE McLAUGHLIN/Staff photographer

More than a dozen Canada geese swim in the pond near Jersey Avenue and Orchard Street in North Brunswick late last month. The township is looking at ways to reduce the population.


Now officials are looking at other methods.

Addling goose eggs to prevent hatching and using border collies to corral the birds are techniques under review.

With a permit from the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, Benson could hire a company to do the addling, which is performed in the first 10 to 14 days after the eggs are laid. After being taken from the nest, the eggs are either punctured, frozen, shaken or put in oil.

Once the goose realizes the eggs won't hatch, it will walk away from the nest, Benson said.

She said the process is approved by the Division of Fish and Wildlife, the Humane Society and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

The township would have to pay $100 per nest for the procedure, she said.

Benson also met with a Howell-based group called the Geese Police to discuss using border collies as a possible solution.

The collie's gaze intimidates geese, and they move or fly away. Benson said the stare is "wolflike."

"They think they are in danger," she said.

Border collies usually are used from February to June. They are sent to geese-infested areas three to four times a day at different times, Benson said.

She said the township would use one border collie for a place such as Boyds Pond. The dog responds to the command of its trainer and does not react to anyone else, Benson added.

Using the collies would cost $350 for the first two weeks and $275 for the remaining weeks.

Although Mayor David Spaulding said he has an aversion to killing animals, he believes tactics now being used to discourage the geese population are not working. He said the methods only push geese from one area to another, creating a problem for someone else.

"This is not eliminating the problem," he said.

Spaulding said he favors more drastic actions to reduce the population. "We have to seriously consider killing some geese," he said. "I know a lot of people will find it distasteful, but what alternative do we have?"

Township Council members urged caution and recommended nonlethal means. "Let's see if they're a couple things in between," said Councilman Bob Davis.

"I don't see where legally we can take any more drastic action," said Council President Mac Womack.

Councilman Adam Weiss said he is vehemently opposed to killing geese. He said they do not pose a public-health risk. He said he opposes using addling, even though the rest of the council was receptive to the idea.

Spaulding asked Weiss if he agreed that if the township uses nonlethal methods, it would just push the problem to another municipality.

"We may, but I don't think this issue necessitates killing the geese," Weiss responded.

Director of Human Services Leslie MacNeill said the Middlesex County Health Department does not have a written policy for geese complaints, nor do they recommend methods of control.

She said the township should not get involved with geese on private property. The onus would be on the property owner to contact the Division of Fish and Wildlife for assistance, she added.

Health officials said some methods provide a temporary fix, but there is no long-term solution
 
hahahahah! that's for sure! they also have the collie thing at $350, could you run right out and pick me up a collie? :)

I still say it's wrong!

I forgot too, they could pay the squad, we went there with the other kids and Jared and Shane were trying to take the eggs till Momma attacked them. So having those 2 together, they could get rid of them.
 
I really don't see what the problem is... if you have an over abundance of a particular animal, then simply open them up to hunters.

Then you generate revenue from the licenses, the bird numbers are brought into line, and they don't go to waste - they're eaten.

What's so hard about that? These people can't see the forest for the trees!
 
Guess not too hard NT, but I for one wouldn't eat Geese, I just can't get myself to even think about it. Bad enough I ate Duck once, maybe twice, but I won't even do that now. I agree with what you say, but, I am one who would probably be able to shoot a person before an animal! call me crazy! what can I say.
 
Your absolutely right there! I know you will kill me on this issue! :( but, I like to go to the park and feed them, and I think they way they want to kill the eggs is wrong too! I suppose if I never read about it or heard it, it wouldn't bother me! just the same as if I read about chickens and turkey's being slaughtered, it would bother me too!!!!
 
Yeah, I have a friend down in Wisconsin that worked at a turkey plant for about a week before she quit - she really loved to eat turkey before she worked there. These days she won't touch the stuff & sticks with beef.

I didn't have the heart to tell her about cow slaughter houses... lol

I feel the same way as you about Ducks... I even have 3 of those little fellas wandering around my back yard. They're pretty much worthless except that I like watching them. I walk out back & they'll eyeball me & start bitching at me until I give them some bread or something. In fact, that white duck you're holding in the pics you posted today looks exactly like 2 of mine.
 
3 in your back? I would love that! I have a ground hog in my shed! :)
 
I'm a huge hypocrite on this issue. I think that in this day and age, hunting is just stupid, and pretty much pointless (and I also think it's ironic that most of the big hunters I know are die-hard Christians, even though their Book teaches "thou shalt not kill"). However, I will eat the hell out of pretty much any meat presente to me (to date, I've tried beef, pork, turkey, chicken, dove, buffallo, wild boar, and probably lots of others). I guess I just feel like, if animals are being bred simply to be slaughtered, I can handle that. But to go out, hide in a tree, lay out bait for an animal to walk up to, then blowing its brains out and calling it a "sport" is major bullshit, in my opinion.
 
Your right Dan, but that's because your a freak of nature like me! ahhahaha! I know God has issued "though shall not kill" but there are animals put on earth for us to eat! shall not kill I think refers more to me not wanting to kill my husband! ;)

A good post though Dan, I don't like hunting either, but I know some hunters that are not just for the kill and do it without my opinion so horrible, also for the food. I don't like hunters that it's a sport just to see how many you can kill and leave it there to suffer. And one good one, if you remember when I was going with John Kennedy, also referred to as the chicken plucker that lived in Digmans ferry, well, I went up there on weekend, snowy out, some ass hole put an arrow through a doe, she came out in front of my car at night snowing, I got out when she collapsed, I was so upset. She laid there looking at me, I sat down, put her head in my arms and cried. I got some help to call the Rangers there, and they came, I begged them not to kill her and get her some help. Well, I don't know exactly what happened, my hopes were only that they took her and got her help, but it was the thought of an arrow in her side and left to die! it killed me after that.
 
Yeah, I hear some really disgusting stories about hunting from my friends. And I assure you, my friends are not so poor that they can't afford to just buy their food.

This may just be a local thing, but apparently around here, when you kill your first deer, after they gut it, they put all its insides in a bucket, then dump it over your head. Great fun!
 
Well, I have to disagree here.

Man has always hunted, that's how we've survived as a species. Going out and hunting is a primal thing.

Killing for the sake of killing isn't hunting. We kill pests up at the cabin, that's strictly for the sake of preserving the foliage & the cabin. Anyone that kills an animal just for the sake of killing it needs to have his ass kicked. Twice. Maybe even three times.

I was raised on moose, it was necessary to eat. What's wrong with hunting deer, moose, elk, etc., when you're going to eat it? Feeding your family by harvesting several hundred pounds of meat is a very natural thing!
 
I dunno, just seems like, if you have the money to just go to the store and buy the stuff (of course, I don't know too many supermarkets that carry moose), what's the point of taking an innocent life, just because you can?

As for it being a "primal" thing that our ancestors did, so we should be able to do, I can't really buy that one either. Sure, our ancestors killed all their food, but even if you don't believe a bit in evolution, can't people at least accept that we have matured at least a little from our ancestors? Those same ancestors also used to crap in a hole in the ground and kill anyone that opposed their ideals, does that mean we should still do that, too?

Take dogs, for example. A wild dog won't think twice about killing a squirrel or something, in order to eat. However, a domesticated one generally won't. Why? Because they don't have to. Unless your annual income is below $10,000 and you live hundreds of miles from any sort of food proprietor, there is no reason for someone to want to hunt, outside of the fact that killing something makes you feel like more of a man.
 
Makes me feel more like a man? I'm pretty secure. I was raised hunting & fishing and I can be very self reliant if push came to shove.

What if the shit hits the fan and civilization as we know it comes to a screeching halt? What if there is no way to drive down and pick up some hamburger for dinner for whatever reason? I'm not a survivalist nut, and I don't expect that to ever happen. But if there are still animals around to hunt, I can say confidently that my family will remain well fed.

More realistically, what if you were on a boat that sank & you were able to get to shore miles and miles away from anywhere? Or a plane crash? Or you just plain got lost somehow?

Hunting & Fishing skills in those instances could be of paramount importance. I truly think having solid knowledge of survival in the outdoors and keeping those skills honed are important. Teaching your kids about these kinds of things is important too - almost everyone either has been hopelessly lost or knows someone that has.
 
Whew! this whole point was just the fact that I didn't like the way they wanted to rid of the eggs. I don't like hunting, but then again, that's what we have guys for! haha! seriously though, I like to fish and yes, I would eat what I caught, if it's other than a sea robbin, or a blow up fish. I agree about as long as it's hunting and eating, not just for the kill. I have also known some hunters that, yes, they will eat what they catch, but they get off on watching the animal suffer, it's a thrive for them, this I don't like. Yes, if I were on a deserted Island, sure would have to eat what was there and HUNT for it. And yes, if I lived like the wilderness family, I guess there too I would hunt. It boils for me the way it's done, that's all. Just don't like kill for fun!
 
Well, I'm more of a hypocrite here, because I don't really have anything against fishing. Dunno why.

BTW, NT, I was making a broad generalization, not just talking about you.
 
Hey Dan, heheheh, fishing, but can you put the worm on the hook??? :) j/k!!!!

NT knows you weren't talking about him personally, but you know NT, he WILL debate all the issues! LOL !! gotta love him for that! :)

I understand what your saying Dan, and like I mentioned before, you are a Lutus Natare (probably spelled that wrong) like me!!! hahahahah

Lutus Natare if spelled right was what my cousin told me I was as a kid - FREAK OF NATURE!!!!! hahahahahahahaha
 

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