There are some particularly troublesome geese at Bentonville Municipal Airport. Not that we've ever met a goose that wasn't troublesome--from chasing kids to making a mess of golf courses.
It appeared as though these airport geese were officially cooked after the city asked for a permit to send the birds to that happy rice paddy in the sky. But now it seems there's been pushback. And city officials are getting cold feet when it comes to killing those with webbed feet.
There are some people who really like these geese. Or at the very least, they oppose the geese being killed as a solution. Here's more from the papers:
"Members of the Airport Advisory Board, city council, city staff and Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman have received comments of concern about and opposition to the city's plan to kill geese at the airport."
Now the city is looking at using noisemakers and lasers to scare the geese away. But Octavio Sanchez, council member and airport board member, said pilots need to be the priority.
"It is better for us to kill as many geese as needed instead of suffering a catastrophe," he said.
Now that's common sense.
Just last month we let hunters kill 1,160 geese over two days at the first World Championship Snow Goose Conservation Hunt in the Delta to feed people in need. What's the problem in adding about 30-40 Canada geese to that total and feeding even more people?
These geese are a real problem. They congregate north of the runway, and if they strike a plane (which happens more often than you think), human life could be at risk. A 2013 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report found there are more than 5 million breeding Canada geese in North America. Losing a few dozen of them in Bentonville, Ark., will hardly tip the scales toward extinction.
It seems the worst thing that'll happen if we let the city kill these geese is there'll be fewer birds leaving feathers and poop on the shores of our state ponds and lakes.
Scaring the birds and moving them will cost lots of money. But shotgun shells? We have plenty of those, and they're cost-effective. Roast goose, anyone?
Editorial on 03/06/2019