Open letter to mayor and council,
My home backs onto one of the elementary school yards, and I am absolutely thrilled when the snow geese arrive each winter and the fields are covered with beautiful white birds. There is so little of nature in our overdeveloped city that we should all embrace the brief time that the birds are with us.
It disheartens, even angers me, when I see both children and adults, with or without dogs, chasing the geese and preventing them from feeding or taking a much-needed rest. Parents who encourage the harassment of the geese are teaching their children to disrespect animals and nature. In my mind, the snow geese are a gift and I welcome them wholeheartedly.
During the rainy months of the year, the children spend more time in the playground and basketball areas, and not as much time out on the wet fields. Why does the City of Richmond believe the snow geese need to be culled?
I have never seen city or school district workers removing goose droppings from the school yard, and yet the fields are clean and green every summer. It seems to me that the goose droppings simply become fertilizer and that is an asset, not a problem at all.
Human beings are responsible for so much destruction of our natural world. There is an arrogant belief in human superiority over other forms of life and in that arrogance our governments try to control nature instead of letting nature take care of itself, as it has since the beginning of time. Governments don't "manage" wildlife, they damage it, and the word "cull" was created to soften or conceal the fact they are killing animals, pure and simple.
I don't believe anyone can accurately count wild animal populations, but I do believe the drive to get rid of the snow geese shows poor judgment on the part of our city leaders.
Leslie Landa
Richmond
