…and ya gotcher Great Lakes, son…. ya, see these, are yer pri-mordial sea-gulls, from way out there from your East…

Fegli — my problem with seagulls is more along the lines of associating them with the *sea*. So it was weird for me when I came to Minnesota and found them ALL OVER THE PLACE here. It’s the 10,000 lakes, I guess.

Mm very true – good call Birdcage. I suppose it just honks me off a bit (lol pun definitely intended) when people complain about animals when they have as much right as anything to just… be. Especially when the predominant issue appears to be poop on a sidewalk/park. I guess it’s the same with seagulls – you can’t even think about a seagull without free associating it with garbage, which is an issue that we have inadvertantly created.

At any rate, those are some cute baby McGeesersons, which is really the point of CO.

I once watched a 2 yr old issue a smack down to a goose (who was half the kid’s size) who was getting overly aggressive in the park where she was feeding the ducks and ducklings too. Kind of funny. The animal wasn’t hurt, though quite startled. The little girl was like 2, so please no screams of “abuse!” She ending up smacking thing on its back, but darn that goose was aggressive!

I’ve often wondered whether species that we have rescued were intended to be extinct for some reason by nature. Example: would humans have evolved as we have if dinosaurs still existed? That said: luf dem geeses….!

Thank you, birdcage! That was eloquently put.

“Human intervention has had unintended consequences for a number of species,” berthasbutler? Even for humans. What flavor pudding we talkin about?

Well said, birdcage — I think we can ALL agree that human intervention has had unintended consequences for a number of species. It makes you think about how we might prepare our world for a better tomorrow.

:: the more you know ::

Now, who wants to recycle some plastic and then get some delicious delicious pudding?

I had forgotten all about that cartoon – very cute, Theresa.

Once almost extinct, Canada Geese have gone through a huge and arguably unnatural population explosion over the past 25-30 years because they have benefitted from the ways humans have changed the urban landscape in North America. This is not a simple case of “they were here first so tolerate them” – they have, in fact, unnaturally developed into huge flocks in areas that were not historically home to these birds. They are attracted to the cultivated parks and man-made urban water areas, golf courses and farmer’s fields, for feeding and nesting. An influx of one of these abnormally large flocks of Canada Geese can increase fecal coliform in our waterways and reservoirs to unhealthy levels. They nest in inappropriate areas near buildings or parking lots, endangering themselves and their human neighbours. They damage agricultural crops through excessive grazing and overpopulation. Please don’t take my comments the wrong way – I adore these majestic birds. I just think we might all take a moment to educate ourselves to decide whether we are truly encroaching onto their natural environment as some of you suggest, or to consider whether we are instead assisting in the creation of an unnatural environment for their sometimes uncomfortably large populations in our urban areas …