No easy answer
on Canada geese
Considering the intensity of development in our area, and how much we have done to remake our environs, it almost always makes sense to try to make a little more room for the wildlife we share our communities with.
Almost. The glaring exception is, as West Long Branch resident Mary Lynn Mango would be happy to tell you, Canada geese.
Although wildlife preservation is deservedly a priority in most situations, the circumstances surrounding the exploding population of the bird that once primarily made its home much farther north have become something other than a live-and-let-live situation.
Mango is not alone in facing what, at the very least, is vast unpleasantness and could well be a serious health hazard in the form of the waste produced by what seems like an ever-growing flock of these birds that now call our area their summer home.
Stated plainly, the birds have made themselves as unwelcome as any other guest who comes for a visit and ends up, not only overstaying their welcome, but taking advantage of the efforts we have made to make ourselves comfortable in our homes.
This is genuinely the case with the Canada geese.
This is not a situation where human development has pushed these birds from their homes; simply put, they are interlopers here to take advantage of us and whatever we have done to improve the environment for our own ends.
And despite many and varied efforts in recent years — from using radio-controlled cars, to installing elaborate fences or driving the birds off with dogs — there seems to be no completely humane way to rid an area of these determined squatters.
In the case of the dogs, there is no evidence that the method has accomplished anything beyond simply moving the problem from one community to its neighbors. That is certainly no way to solve this still growing dilemma.
Drastic times call for drastic measures, and the West Long Branch Borough Council should strongly consider trapping and euthanizing the birds as a way to reclaim their community.
It would be wonderful if a solution short of killing the birds could be found, but nothing that has been tried so far has been effective.
It is time to do the one thing we can be sure will work.