Let’s Stop the Slaughter of Geese
When I returned to my parents’ home last summer, I decided to take Andy, my four-year-old nephew, to the Park where I had often played as a child. As soon as I had unbelted him from his car seat, Andy ran down the hill toward the small pond below us. Before I could lock the car, I heard him scream and looked up immediately. A large Canada goose was hissing menacingly at him, and three others were just a few feet away. I ran to rescue Andy and picked him up. That’s when I noticed that Andy’s shoes were covered with goose droppings. I then looked down. Mine were too.
After I cleaned our shoes and took Andy home, I told my mother about the incident with the geese, to which she replied, “You should have seen the park a few months ago. The geese were everywhere. Then the agents started sneaking in during early morning hours, rounding them up, and hauling them away."
"Where did they take them?"
She smiled, “To goose heaven."
I was stunned. I couldn’t believe that people in the environmentally conscious Puget Sound area would round up waterfowl and kill them. But at the same time, I found out from experience why the geese are a nuisance. Surely, I thought, there must be a better way to deal with problem geese. I began looking on the Internet and then went to the library to find out what other communities had done to discourage unwanted geese. I learned just how widespread the goose problem is—from coast to coast—and how many different methods to control the geese had been tried.
The problem with the Canada geese is one that people have created. Before the 1950s, when they were hunted nearly to extinction, the geese nested in Canada and wintered in the United States. Later, conservationists found a surviving flock in Minnesota and began raising the geese to restore the population. Unfortunately, these farm-raised geese had lost their instinct to migrate and began living in the United States the year round (Schnell). Since goose hunting had been made illegal, the Canada geese found friendly habitat in the spreading suburbs, parks, and golf courses, which had plenty of grass and other food and few predators. The result was a population explosion in communities that had not seen a Canada goose in decades.
Ducks Unlimited is a North American non-profit organization that conserves wetlands and associated habitats for waterfowl, other wildlife and people. Ducks Unlimited was formed during the Great Depression when a group of conservation-minded waterfowlers saw a decrease in waterfowl populations. As an employee of Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC), I have a strong understanding of the company, and I will be analyzing the site of DUC’s sister organization – Ducks Unlimited Inc. (DUI).
As night struck I collapsed in my bed exhausted from the day, I felt like I’ve never done that much labor since we first came to Salem. I woke up early afternoon only to see a letter that my dad wrote stating he was going on a hunting trip. Every wednesday I take care of the chickens along with my sister Tara, our chicken coop is a couple of feet from our house and is home to about 12 chickens that are always rowdy.
The deer population has increased so much that in many areas, they suffer from chronic starvation. “Bucks only” laws passed years ago to help in re-establishing the dwindling deer herds now work against the deer by resulting in an overabundance of does. Even with the overabundance of does many hunters refuse to shoot a doe. They believe in the old saying, “It takes a doe to yield a buck.” This is entirely true but it ignores the basic law of nature that any piece of land, and the food and cover in it, can support only so much game. If the excess game is not harvested by hunters or killed by predators, nature will take over and exterminate enough animals as needed or more through disease and starvation. That’s why hunting is a much more humane means for a deer ...
Wild Geese-- a poem by Mary Oliver. 1 May 2009. Youtube. 2 Sep. 2010. .
Environmentalists call this problem the Urban Deer Dilemma. This exists when the number of deer exceeds the ability of the environment to support the deer (2). During the 1600s, when Jamestown’s first settlers arrived, there were between 24 and 31 million white-tailed deer in North America (4). As settlers pioneered farther west, the deer population steadily decreased until a dramatic drop in the 19th century. By the end of the century, less than half-a-million deer were left. In some parts of the United States, there were none. In 1886, the US Supreme Court forced hunters to get licenses and follow certain restrictions. Conservationists urged hunters kill bucks instead of does. Because of these precautions, by the 1940s, 30 states in the United States had deer herds large enough to starve themselves (4).
The piping plover, a bird now going extinct, was once very bountiful. When an animal is going extinct, it could mean a lot of things. The Piping Plover is an endangered species. An endangered species is a name for a plant or animal that is slowly dying out. This bird is experiencing population drops, so it is called endangered. It is known to scientists as the Charadrius Melodus (ES: Piping Plover). It mainly resides around the Great Lakes and sometimes lives along the Atlantic coast in Canada and the United States (Piping Plover Page). Piping plovers are sometimes found in Alberta as well (ES: Piping Plover). People used to hunt this bird for sport, or for it’s feathers, which was a leading cause of its dramatic decline in population (Piping Plover Page). Piping plovers always return to the spot in which they were born, and find females to breed with (Piping Plover Page). They woo the female, and mate with her, producing eggs. Many efforts are being made to maintain, and increase the population of this struggling bird, and so far, they have maintained the species very well.
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
...ughout much of their continent-wide breeding range is proof that to manage wildlife; you need to manage their ecosystems. Wet weather, combined with abundant nesting cover provided by the federal Conservation Reserve Program, have shown that wetland and grassland ecosystems are what make or break duck populations. The same is true for all other species, game and non-game. (R. Holmes). (1)
It’s a brisk November morning like any other day, but today isn’t any other day, today is the first day of firearm deer season. Shots are going off everywhere like world war three declared on deer. I’m wrapped in every hunting garment I own but winters cold embrace always finds its way in. My cheeks are rosy red and my breath was thick in the air. As I raise my shotgun and pull the trigger, my heart races and my hands shake. As I race after my prize, the sounds of leaves crunching beneath my feet are muffled by the ringing in my ears. I’m walking face to the ground like a hound on a trail and then my eyes caught it, my very first whitetail. I will never forget my first deer and the joy I felt sharing it with my family. Hunting is a passed down tradition for my family and friends. Throughout the world, millions of people participate in the spoils and adventure of the hunt. Hunting has been a pastime since the beginning of man. Hunting is one of those things either you like or you don’t like. It’s hard to explain the joys of hunting ,because it’s something one must experience for his self. Hunting does have laws and regulations you have to abide by. Are hunting regulations benefiting the hunter or the animal? This paper will discuss some of the regulations and laws, types of game, disadvantages of regulations, the pros of regulations, poachers, and ways to preserve wildlife and there habitat.
Years ago, killing animals for food was part of the average man’s everyday life. While, now a days, hunting is questioned by many across the world because it is commonly viewed as a recreational activity. Many residents have a problem with the dangers that come with hunting. Not to mention, as time goes on, society seems to feel differently about animals and how they should be treated. One of the biggest debates is the harvest of white tailed deer. All over the United States, white tailed deer thrive because of the few predators that feast upon them and the large forests and habitats that these deer can flourish in. However, as buildings and subdivisions pop up left and right decreasing the white tailed deer natural habitat, the debate grows stronger. The heart of the debate is centered around ethical issues, human and deer conflicts, safety, and the benefits hunting has on the economy.
Thesis: The population of white-tail deer in Alabama has drastically increased over the past century causing significant damage to property and homeowners, caused by hunters being less active.
... answer, other options should be considered. If the students that are breaking the dress code are those that are regularly in trouble, then having a dress code is simply giving them another rule not to follow, while giving the rest of the kids one more rule to adhere to. Clothes will not change the violent behaviors we see in school; therefore, let's spend more time worrying about bigger issues such as academic performance, better discipline policies and creating a better climate at our learning institutions.
America’s school systems seem to have many issues concerning students receiving a quality education without distraction. A current debate argues weather a dress code policy is efficient or takes away from student’s expression. Administrators at schools should regulate a dress code policy because the system improves discipline and student’s attention, reduces social conflict and peer pressure related to appearance, and dress code provides a more serious learning environment.
I went out in my garden to pick some fresh fruit when I heard two squeaky voices. I immediately recognized two those voices, it belonged to those two animals that Gwendolyn and Augustus called children. I really did despise them. They would always try to eat my home, and never had any manners. I continued to watch them, - not in a pedophilic way. Gwendolyn and Augustus weren’t with t...
* Daily, Gretchen C., ed. Nature’s Services: Societal Dependence on Natural Ecosystems. Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 1997.