We pushed prairie chickens out of the way and to the west. We were too late for the passenger pigeon. We overlooked the Carolina parakeet. Everybody got it wrong with the Heath Hen. But by the 1940s and 50s, we started to figure things out.
And boy, did we knock it out of the park with Giant Canada geese.
Changing views
As hard as it might be for some of us to believe now, not everyone at the turn of the last century believed in science or humans’ ability to impact nature. Crazy, I know. Some thought species could never go extinct. Many species were lumped into one of two buckets: valuable or nuisance. There wasn’t any middle ground.
In that time, Giant Canada geese were extirpated from Ohio in the late 1800s. Market hunting and egg collection gave them value, but the loss of habitat through the draining of wetlands was considered a good thing if anybody cared. After that, if you saw a Canada goose in Ohio from 1900 to the 1950s it was likely just passing through on annual migration from the James Bay region of subarctic Canada to somewhere warmer. But with 10-12 distinct subspecies that vary greatly in size but subtly in markings, it can be difficult to identify them, especially on the wing.
So why can't we just "shoot them all" as some have suggested?
Read the column here: https://www.daytondailynews.com/lifestyles/goose-gone-wild-ohios-conservation-success-story-gets-messy/ADFUBYYZNVAIVMCEUMNISSXSE4/
Season:
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