Michigan won't exterminate geese -- so what's the next step?

[marmar]

Neal Rubin
Detroit Free Press


As a mommy goose and daddy goose escorted five adorable goslings across a neighborhood pond and onto the grass in Farmington Hills the other day, I had to wonder:

At what point do they teach the kiddies to be malevolent bastards?

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, in tribute to the foul temper, prodigious pooping and other grating characteristics of Canada geese, had announced in March that it was planning to collect and whack thousands of them, rather than just relocate them and let them get back to the business of creating further objectionable versions of themselves.

The public squawked, and as our Jalen Williams reported March 13, the DNR has decided to instead just speak to them sternly and return to the controls that don't seem to do much, but don't involve goose murder. ...................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/columnists/neal-rubin/2025/05/17/michigan-dnr-not-euthanizing-geese-fight-infestation/83657846007/

[EYESORE 9001]

1. I admit that I once found Canada geese charming

Until I went outside my new house to find 20 or so busily destroying the fresh sod on the lawn. My fearless dachshund rushed past me out the door and ran at full speed toward them, barking while resembling a low-rider cruise missile. She grabbed one by the tail and nearly took flight with the bird. Geese never stopped by again.

[bif]

2. One of our city parks

Allows some dogs in to chase them away. They crap everywhere!

[llmart]

3. Has Trump signed an executive order renaming the species U.S. geese yet?

I'm a bit on the fence about whether they should be euthanized or not. They have really become a nuisance in so many places. I believe they have protected status currently, but any species can become overpopulated and then become a problem (including our own). As a long time member of Audubon, I remember how they advocated for certain species to be culled, such as the Eastern sparrow. They also advocated taking the goose eggs out of their nests and replacing them with fake eggs. Our subdivision has fought this losing battle with the geese on our pond for decades. Some of the Board's attempts were absolutely comical. The geese always won.