LUMA

I have so many experiences of walking through Prospect Park and encountering the beloved Canada Geese (Rest in Peace). I haven’t been able to venture back to the park knowing that they are no longer - and of their fate — as of last Thursday, July 8th. The Park geese had such personality — if they sensed you might have a morsel of food, they would come en masse out of the Prospect Park Lake and follow you with a beseeching look, their small, perfectly round, dark eyes peering inquisitively at you. Their chests jutted out as they made their way, stomping the ground; their unique gait, their lumbering waddle — which shifted distinctively from left to right and back again — in full display. Rest assured tho’, they could move fast if they wanted to!

Amazed, I’d watch as the geese, the ducks, the pigeons and the sparrows all co-existed beautifully. Hour after hour, adults and children, locals and visitors, came offering food — no, not the ideal diet, it was mostly typical junky food of white bread and rolls but the geese and ducks managed. (To balance this out, they seemed to find nutrition in some of the natural environment, the reeds and grass of the park.) While in some places, the Canada Geese are scorned; at Prospect Park, they were loved. They could bring a smile to most everyone’s faces.

A couple of years ago, I noted a goose at the park in distress. I went back each day for a week to bring food to her specifically, and, of course, feeding one, all of them came - that’s how I first came to know them. This particular goose moved so much slower than the others; some geese picked on her, children ran after her, and she seemed at risk. It turned out she had high levels of lead in her (an avian vet believed this was from a lead bullet). These levels were causing neurological problems, making this a tough environment for her. A wildlife rehabilitator helped rescue her and named her Catherine. I also knew Beaky, the goose with no upper beak whose pink tongue was fully exposed; he compensated by being an utter delight (he’d eat out of people’s hands) and later became famous via a New York Times story.

Should we really be killing an entire population in a public park without any vetting, any discussion? There are so many problems with this decision, beginning with the fact that these geese were resident geese - mostly flying between this park and nearby Green-Wood Cemetery. The geese that collided with Flight 1549 were deemed by the Smithsonian institute to be migratory. However, I’m not advocating the killing of migratory geese; there are other methods that can be employed, if necessary, such as tracking migratory patterns. (I delve into this more on my Washington Square Park Blog.)

With so little wildlife and nature to view in this big, bustling city, the site of these unusual creatures, loaded with personality, was a joy to behold. They were so so trusting - because, as far as they knew, humans were mostly their friends. Until last Thursday when a misguided plan was put into play in the dark of night by the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), with the approval of the NYC Parks Department and Mayor Bloomberg, and that notion was quickly dispelled.

Photos: Cat

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** More details on this and what you can do at my Washington Square Park Blog.