One of my facebook friends put this up, and it perfectly describes exactly how I feel this morning. Thought I'd share it, since I know I'm not the only one. Gray day, gray thoughts. We are seeing so few animals in Prospect Park these days, and I really miss them. There were so many last year!!It felt like it was their park as well, and I really appreciated their sharing their lives with us. Now they seem to be all gone.
The entire population of geese was, of course, eradicated. And for no good reason. And all the different excuses/reasons given sounded remarkably like the rationale for every genocide every committed. They don't belong. They're dirty. They're dangerous. And now, since these were resident geese, there are no more. A few migratory ones come in, stay only for a while, and leave. Goslings return to the place where they were born. And since all the little baby goslings were also killed, there are none to come back.
Then there is the lack of turtles. Apparently they've been sunning themselves in Central park for weeks, but none here so far. It could be that there haven't been that many warm sunny days, and the rocks in Central Park are a little more open and amenable to warming in what sun there has been. I certainly hope so.
PP itself seems to be getting much less natural and wild. Herbicides to kill off the "bad plants." The Lakeside Project concreting over large areas, with tame, manicured little gardens replacing large portions of fields and grass areas. Everything planned, predictable, safe, boring. The magic of nature and wildlife - gone, gone, gone!
So, on the one hand, I feel very lucky to have experienced the magic of wildlife in PP last year. I feel a little flicker of joy whenever I think about it. The geese flying overhead. The swans puffing up and trying to intimidate each other. The turtles - slipping into the water at the merest hint of sound. The rabbit we used to see. The many species of ducks. Even when the animals fought, which was only very occasionally, it was wonderful. Genuine wildlife!! Maybe not peace and love all the time, but at least when there is a fight it is fair and for a reason. Gee, I wish humans would learn from them instead of wiping them out.
This is your most moving entry, though at the same time, the most troubling.
ReplyDeleteThat fact is, that when eradicating the entire population of geese at PP last summer, the family dynamics changed.
As you note correctly, this was the "resident" population that was wiped out. You don't have an established population now. Whatever geese might have stopped over during migrations have presumably returned to their nesting and molting sites.
I don't know if any new geese have attempted to nest at PP and thus begin a new established family dynamic. But, if the eggs are oiled, that would prevent that from occuring and obviously discourage the geese from using PP as a "home" base.
Though I believe egg addling has a place in areas where there are truly too many resident geese, it doesn't seem the thing to do in an area where all the resident geese were decimated. (It should have been done last year instead of roundups and gassings.)
The turtle situation is very strange at PP, considering they are very plentiful and visible in Central Park and have been for at least a month.
Usually, one sees entire families of turtles sunning themselves on rocks on sunny days.
Then again, we haven't had that many sunny days so far this spring.
Let's hope that is the problem at PP and the turtles there are just a little slower showing themselves.
Please keep us updated!
Thanks for a great blog.
Thanks for your comments. You are so right that any egg oiling should have been done last year. That's what disturbs me the most - the obvious complete lack of foresight and planning when the Park deals with wild animals. Well, actually, it was Bloomberg, not the park. I guess they thought that a few hundred geese would come back again, if they thought that far ahead at all. Will they ever bother to do a little learning and research BEFORE they take drastic action?
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