Good birds can turn foul when humans get in the way

After last week's column about a wild goose chase during nesting season, I began to feel like, say, Mother Goose.

Though none of the tales rhymed, from the Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce Expo 2008 on Tuesday to the Riverwalk on Saturday, goose after gander story let me know I wasn't alone.

"I laughed out loud reading your column today," e-mailed Lynette Klingbeil. "I would have freaked! ... Birds are fine at a distance, but not close ... I'm pretty birdophobic."

Klingbeil also picked up the other message of last week's column about litter.

"Maybe we could initiate some type of neighborhood clean-up day," she wrote. "My stepmom, Linda, and I noticed paper, bottles and cans all along Ogden Avenue And it's not just Ogden … We all need to do a better job of picking up after ourselves..."

"So you were attacked by geese, eh!" e-mailed Bev Frier. "Did you feel like Tippi Hedron in the movie ("The Birds")?"

I flashed back to several weeks ago when I took photos of two geese perched high atop my backyard neighbor's roof, trading honks with geese next door.

You can see the odd sighting posted on Kevin Corrigan's Kev Kev Birdwatch Club Web site at www.kevkevbirdwatch.org. Click on "April."

On Wednesday, Nancy Quigley, owner of Quigley's Irish Pub, said a goose deliberately flew into one of her employees at P.M. Bedroom Gallery on Route 59 when he got out of his car.

"The goose knocked him down and his hat off," Quigley said. "He had to return to his car and drive to retrieve his favorite hat in the parking lot because the goose wouldn't leave him alone."

"His elbow's all scratched up," Quigley said. "But we turned lemons into lemonade. We have Goose Island Honker's Ale on tap and we've named it our 'Beer of the Month.' "

"I thought of you earlier," said Ray Kinney at Minuteman Press on Friday.

"I almost went doo-doo when I was nearly goosed by a goose this morning!" he quipped.

Early Saturday, Nancy Davis e-mailed a story in another Chicago paper about geese nesting near the entrance of the same furniture store Quigley had mentioned earlier.

Davis also recalled a time when a woman and her children fed bread crumbs to ducks while standing next to the "Do Not Feed the Waterfowl" sign along the Riverwalk.

She added that last week she watched a woman lose her footing as she ran backward, trying to ward off a goose attack as she left Meijer.

"Her boyfriend came to her rescue, practically dragging her away from the goose," Davis said.

It's funny how we try to use humor to get folks to pay attention.

Truth is, Canada geese are protected by both state and federal law and they become aggressive and dangerous during nesting season and when fed by humans.

Yet, in a world where solutions to challenges can seem daunting, the protection of wildlife can begin with each one of us.

I know it's tough to admonish another adult when their children are joyfully tossing bread crumbs to adorable little goslings.

But considering the consequences, you'd think folks would understand that waterfowl are equipped to migrate and sustain themselves in nature.

While the abundance of local retention ponds provides a natural habitat, you'd think it would begin to soak in that feeding wildlife is not only harmful to the ecosystem; it's also harmful to wildlife.

For years, signs posted along America's shorelines have advised "Don't feed waterfowl" to protect the wildlife; not to ruin your fun.

You might say I get a little honked off when some people think basic knowledge does not apply to them.

While it's all the rage to talk about climate change, costly green initiatives and other eco-friendly projects, whenever the solution is simple, we don't seem to care or have the confidence to try.

What if every classroom beginning in nursery school posted a sign "Protect waterfowl! Don't feed wildlife!"?

What if every teacher took five seconds at least once a week to remind students to teach their parents?

Are aggressive geese the world's biggest challenge? Nope.

Can we protect once-migratory waterfowl and their overpopulation by not feeding them? You bet.

When was the last time you saw an amazing aerodynamic V-formation of geese flying overhead, migrating north or south?

I'm all for seeing more of it. Thanks for keeping America beautiful.