More to geese than their messes

More to geese than their messes

As I walked back to my car after a second attempt to help save an injured goose that was laying in a muddy pond, I thought about where my appreciation for geese came from.

In the news the only time we hear of Canada geese being mentioned is when someone is talking about their poop and how messy it is. There have been studies about the size, the rate it comes out, where it forms, and how to scare the geese away. Any given Saturday I will go to a pond and find a child throwing rocks at them. I have stood next to a child with his mother, listening to the child say, “die goose die,” while throwing rocks at the goose. I looked at his mother and she didn’t seem the least bit concerned.

Canada geese do poop a lot, but they also mate for life, adopt other goslings, and in the spring return to where they were born. I learned this from my mother, which I taught my children.

Let’s try to have some tolerance when dealing with the geese. You don’t have to love them, but rather step around their poop and go on with your day. There is so much more we can teach our children about them other than what comes out of them.

Amy Tavolino

Wheaton