Scarlet Experiment by Karnicky Jeff;

Author:Karnicky, Jeff; [Karnicky, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: NAT043000 Nature / Animals / Birds
ISBN: 4690664
Publisher: UNP - Nebraska
Published: 2016-08-25T04:00:00+00:00

4

Nuisance and Neighbor

The Canada Goose

September 20, 2004: Lancaster, Pennsylvania

The small signs in Greenfield Corporate Center Park say, “Do not feed the ducks, geese, or swans.” Mostly the signs are ignored, usually by families with small children throwing bread to the mix of mallards, domestic ducks, Canada geese, and pair of mute swans. Today, and over the next few weeks, the reasons for the signs become clear, and the park pretty much empties out of families feeding the birds. The ducks are dying. Today I count six dead ones and at least that many more struggling.

This park seems to have been made for Canada geese. A walking path snakes around three ponds. Vast fields of green grass surround the area. Everything a Canada goose could need is here. The grass and the people with bread are food sources. The fields of grass provide long sight lines so any approaching danger can be seen. The ponds provide a refuge from danger. The small islands and piles of rocks in the ponds provide safe nesting areas. The corporation that runs the park has inadvertently created a waterfowl paradise. During fall migration, I’ve seen thousands of Canada geese on these ponds and the one across the street; in the spring, they are joined by hundreds of snow geese. But now, during the summer, the resident, nonmigratory geese number around one hundred. There are probably two hundred ducks. Goose poop is everywhere: visible on the walking paths and unseen at the bottom of the ponds. The whole park smells rotten. The hot weather, stagnant water, sinking organic material (particularly bread and poop), and dead ducks have created a perfect environment for another form of life: avian botulism bacteria.

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