A few voices silence the lake | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

To the editor: Children in the Honeymoon Lake community who are naming the goslings of this years three mated pairs of resident Canada geese will no longer need to think of names. They are gone — 100 percent of all the geese and goslings are gone.

August 12, 2011 10:11 am

To the editor:

Children in the Honeymoon Lake community who are naming the goslings of this years three mated pairs of resident Canada geese will no longer need to think of names. They are gone — 100 percent of all the geese and goslings are gone.

How did this happen? A few property owners on Honeymoon Lake (two of the three) use the property for a weekend getaway but apparently not to get away to nature. After removing natural flora and installing turf, thereby creating a succulent feeding area for the geese they decided that goose poop on the yard was unacceptable.

The proposed solution was to have hunters take care of the problem.

When an improper vote at the annual community meeting about hunting began to stir controversy about this idea a phone call was made for another quick and easy fix:  Have the USDA do a round up and gas them. Needless to say, this is a quick fix for their yards, but not so much for the community or the tax-payers who pay for this service.

The Humane Society of the United States contacted the board of directors in April with humane alternatives to killing.

The board met in May and told the members present that the following actions would be used:

Post signs to stop feeding the geese. (This did not happen.)

Postpone vote to allow hunting of Canada geese until the next meeting on Aug. 28.

Contact the USDA to use alternative methods for controlling Canada geese.

What did happen is on June 22, in the very late evening, the USDA removed and used carbon dioxide to gas all 19 of the geese and their goslings.

There is not a goose overpopulation problem on the lake. Honeymoon Lake is tested for bacteria and nitrate problems. All tests are negative.

Is there a better humane nonlethal answer? Yes. Vancouver, B.C. has successfully used nonlethal management of Canada geese for more than 30 years.

Do not let a few loud voices speak for the silent majority who wish to live in harmony with nature. Do not let this happen in your community. Get educated about nonlethal solutions and start now. Humane Society of the United States has done excellent research; just Google “GeesePeace.”

Goose poop is inconvenient, but there are more dangerous pathogens in song bird feces. Are they the next target?

LINDA FAUTH

Honeymoon Lake