Kind and gentle

An article in the Times today talks about using Border Collies to corral geese in Central Park praises them for not harming the geese. Earlier campaigns, we are told, included: "education campaigns to stop people from feeding the geese; letting the grass grow taller to disrupt the birds’ eating habits; building fences to confuse them and try to limit access to certain areas."

Now, I understand that one doesn't want to discharge firearms in Central Parks, but if there's a relatively fixed population of non-migratory geese, here's what I suggest: catch them and cut their little heads off with hacksaws. They are not example of nature, any more than the under-predated deer and bunny who traumatize us are: they are almost purely cultural phenomena. Nature would have a certain amount of all them die violent deaths, and our interstates and other roadways assures some of this too.

I would bet that the people who worry about geese have few qualms about the treatment of acknowledged vermin such as cockroaches, mice, rats, and pigeons.