LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Let’s put Canada geese on menu, not protected list

Dear Mr. Fletcher

I grew up in Virginia on Chesapeake Bay. On several well-remembered occasions, I was invited to hunt ducks and Canada geese there. After coming to Georgia, I hunted ducks and Canada geese from time to time on Lake Iamonia, just over the Florida border. Once I was extremely fortunate to travel with clients to Stuttgart, Ark., to hunt ducks and Canada geese on the flyway.

I, and everyone with whom I hunted, obeyed the strict limits on which species and how many birds could be taken. Each time I hunted over the years, I purchased rather expensive federal waterfowl stamps under a program set up long ago to protect migratory ducks and Canada geese. When we were successful, we ate well. Geese are delicious.

That was then.

These laws are still in force. Penalties for violating the waterfowl hunting restrictions are still severe. For ducks, there may still be good reason for these laws. For geese, perhaps not so much. In many Southern cities, including Albany, the migratory geese are no longer migratory. For whatever reason, the geese just do not leave. I have heard many people refer to Canada geese as “welfare geese.” They interfere with traffic and they leave a smelly mess everywhere they congregate.

I believe that the time has come to get Canada geese off the protected list and onto the menu, especially with the rising cost of turkey and chicken.

— Michael C. Hall

Albany

Michael C. Hall is a partner in the Albany-based Hall & Williamson PC law firm.