<div dir="ltr"><div>Some are non-native--sort of. They were here; wild populations were destroyed; captive geese were introduced<br></div><div><br></div><div>From the book "Wild Neighbors":</div><div><br></div><div>"Once decimated by hunting and habitat loss, Canada geese rebounded after captive birds were released throughout the country.
<p>"People may be surprised to hear that birds learn to migrate from
their parents and flock—they don't hatch with this complex knowledge. So
released geese never learned to fly north and instead took up local
residence year-round.</p>
<p>"We've provided food and safety right here in our cities and suburbs.
The geese have no reason to go elsewhere, so they settle in and raise
families....</p><p>
"It's one thing to shoo a few geese off a back lawn and another to
convince a large flock that has used a park for years that they ought to
go elsewhere. That requires a plan. A <a href="https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/plan-ahead-make-peace-canada-geese">coordinated program</a> will save in the long run and be more successful.... <br></p><p>
"Scientific studies do not show that goose droppings pose any special
health threats. Obviously, people want to avoid contact with any animal
droppings. Ordinary good hygiene, such as washing hands and leaving
shoes at the door, are adequate prevention if you accidentally contact
animal droppings."</p>
</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 7:52 AM Debra Schrishuhn <<a href="mailto:deb.pdamerica@gmail.com">deb.pdamerica@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Yes, please! And thank you (honk).</div><div><br></div><div>Yesterday in a local place with a pond (not Crystal Lake) I watched goose families move from one pond to another just before a rainstorm. When the goslings were not going fast enough, the parents shooed them forward by vocalizing and running at them with wings flapping. When crossing roads the adults will not abandon their young to save themselves, but rather urge the young ones ever faster. Geese also form family coops, with multiple broods of youngsters grazing surrounded by multiple pairs of watchful parents.</div><div><br></div><div>Non-lethal means of control could be by the innovative geeseherd idea or the more usual human nest robbers as the park has done in the past. In fact, given the number of broods at Crystal Lake Park this year I'd say that the nest robbing/egg destruction project was abandoned--dare one suggest that it was done to make the goose problem look more acute? It cannot be because the geese are particularly good at hiding their nests--the park's so-called renovations have taken out much of the underbrush and scrub where they nested (and also decreased significant habitat for local songbirds).<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 7:36 AM Karen Aram <<a href="mailto:karenaram@hotmail.com" target="_blank">karenaram@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div>Thank you Niloofar and Deb,<div><br></div><div>I just completed the survey, having just now seen it, and I’m furious over the inhumanity of slaughtering these love creatures. I’m just as outraged at the genocide or culling as they usually refer to it, of wildlife, animals as I am of humans. </div><div><br></div><div>The upgrades or improvements they are planning would be better left alone if it requires this slaughter.</div><div><br></div><div>I will with your permission, circulate your letter below, along with Niloofar’s on FB, along with the link to the survey and phone number.</div><div><br></div><div><br><div><blockquote type="cite"><div>On May 11, 2020, at 05:01, Debra Schrishuhn via Peace <<a href="mailto:peace@lists.chambana.net" target="_blank">peace@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:</div><br><div><div dir="ltr"><div>Outstanding, Susan and Niloofar. I took the survey last week and have been spreading the word. The geese are native, just like our corn-fed whitetail deer that sometimes form a traffic hazard in the rural parts of the county. If Crystal Lake kills all but 20 geese, by next year there will be another 80-100 geese in the park because they are widespread in this area. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Absent natural predators (which the park officials would no doubt find even more of a "nuisance") the geese can and should be managed without wholesale slaughter, disingenuously called "Collection and Charity Donation" by park officials who want to soft-pedal their plans. And the plan to donate the meat to food banks may be well-meaning, but it is seriously flawed, as anyone who has ever tried/ learned to cook wild goose meat can attest.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Besides people taking the survey, who can we call today? Here is the main number--call and protest on behalf of the geese.
<a href="tel:%201-217-367-1544" target="_blank"><span>217.367.1544</span></a> <br></div><div><br></div><div>Now here are the commissioners</div><div><br></div><div>
<strong>Michael Walker / President</strong>-since 1983, reelected in 2019</div><div><br></div><div>
<strong>Nancy Delcomyn / Vice President</strong><br>
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Commissioner since 1993<br>
Next up for election 2023</span> <br></div><div><br></div><div>
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><strong>Roger Digges / Commissioner</strong></span> elected in 2019</div><div><br></div><div>
<strong>Meredith Blumthal / Commissioner</strong><br>
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Commissioner since 2010<br>
Next up for election 2021</span> <br></div><div><br></div><div>
<strong>LaShaunda Cunningham / Commissioner</strong><br>
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Commissioner since 2015<br>
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Next up for election 2021</span></span> <br></div><div><br></div><div>These folks need to feel some community heat.</div><div><br></div><div>One for the honkers!</div><div>Deb<br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, May 11, 2020 at 1:57 AM Niloofar Shambayati via Peace <<a href="mailto:peace@lists.chambana.net" target="_blank">peace@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Susan,</div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Thank you so much for spreading the word about the horrific proposal to slaughter the Crystal Lake's geese to supposedly attract more visitors. Don't they see how ironic it is that the Park houses Anita Purves Nature Center, whose main goal is to help children realize that humans are part of the nature, not its masters?! Can't we accept some "inconveniences" in return for the joy of watching goslings experience life under the protection of their parents, who're partners for life? </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Please urge the commissioners to reject this proposal as cruel and of highly dubious effect. </div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif"><br></div><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Niloofar Shambayati</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Sun, May 10, 2020 at 5:48 PM Susan Parenti via Peace <<a href="mailto:peace@lists.chambana.net" target="_blank">peace@lists.chambana.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>The Urbana Park
District Board of Commissioners is going to vote on Tuesday night May 12
whether or not they support the Park District's proposal to kill off 60–100 geese in Crystal Lake
Park, as a way to manage them and make a balance between number of geese and size/capacities of Park. (They intend to leave 20 geese alive). <br><div><br></div><div>You can see their proposal here : </div><div><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K6R2HWQ" target="_blank">https://</a><a href="https://www.urbanaparks.org/projects/geese-population-and-management/" target="_blank">www.urbanaparks.org/projects/geese-population-and-management</a></div><div><br></div><div>Inside
the proposal is a 3 minute survey about how you feel about the geese in
the Park—the survey puts the geese in a negative light. But please do
the survey now, or at least before 6pm Tuesday night. You don't have to agree with my sentiments. <br></div><div><br></div><div>Here is the survey: </div><div><a href="https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K6R2HWQ" target="_blank">https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/K6R2HWQ</a></div><div><br></div><div>How
do I feel about this? Daily I go to the Park to see/hear the
geese—they’re
the main attraction. The Park District secured a grant to improve Crystal Park, and they feel that the presence of the geese gets in the way of those improvements. . They say that lots of people won’t go to the Park
because of the geese—I don’t know anyone who feels that way. But,
mostly, for me the killing off of the geese is a human-centered way of thinking
(if it’s good for humans, then it’s fine) and that way of thinking I
want to stop as it’s a big component of why we have catastrophic climate
change. </div><div><br></div>“GEESEHERDS” I propose that given that
the swimming pool will be closed all summer, why doesn’t the Park
District use 2 ex-pool employees and make them GEESEHERDS—a variation on
shep(sheep)herds. These geessherds can take care of the geese, tend to
their problems, turn their poop into iron-rich compost. This way the
park District is free of taking care of the geese, and two people have a
job. </div><div><br></div><div>Please spread the word. We don’t have much time. <br></div><font color="#888888"><br clear="all"></font><br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><b>Susan Parenti</b><br><i>Educational Coordinator </i><br><br></div><b>The School for Designing a Society </b><a href="http://www.designingasociety.net/" target="_blank">www.designingasociety.net</a><br><br></div><i>Like us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/designasociety" target="_blank">Facebook</a>!</i><br></div></div></div>
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