Please Don't Feed The Poop Monsters...

I love our feathered friends.  With my allergies, birds were my pet of choice.  As a really young girl, we had ducks, then later we had parakeets (Birdbrain, Aves and Farley) and lastly 2 canaries (Eastman and Ono --they were canaries that DIDN'T sing.  Seriously!  Don't ask me.  They were the only pets that I did not pick out myself; they were given to me as a gift.)  As a Jersey Shore girl, I love the ducks, swans and various other birds that paddle into the lagoon at my parent's house.  When we go out boating on the bay, I am also looking out for the osprey nests.  And sitting by the ocean, watching the seagulls and terns as the waves roll in is delightful.

But then there are the dreaded poop monsters.  You KNOW what I am talking about; Canadian Geese.  (Also known as Canada Geese, although Canada has nothing to do with them; you can't blame this one on them as the geese are native to the northern US as well as Canada.)  They have taken over the world, or at least my world, because wherever I go, there they are.  When I walk in the park (and it doesn't matter if it the park near my house or the one I visit near my office), there they are.  They block up the walk way and where they aren't, they have left their "mark."  (Hence the nickname:  poop monster or, if you want to get more specific, Canadian Poop Monster.)  Try to do a power walk while dodging geese and their droppings.  It ISN"T easy.  

And while their young are adorable; the adults "guarding" their young can be NASTY.  As a mom, I can understand looking out for your young, but when they are EVERYWHERE, it's hard to avoid them.  And since there are so many, just going around them is not as easy as it sounds.  I have yet to be nipped by an angry momma (or poppa), but I've come close.  Since I like to walk (and not RUN away from angry geese), I tend to stay away from the park when I do my morning walks.  But sometimes I need a change of scenery; I end up trying to walk in the park, avoid the poop monsters and their poop.  It slows me down; avoiding both the geese and the minefield that they leave behind.

Year after year they keep coming back and there are more of them! Once they've found a prime spot they will keep coming back year after year.  It seems like most of NJ is a prime spot.  The garden state is just right for endless flock feeding.  There are no natural predators that I am aware of, other than a speeding car.  (Admit it, how many of you have been tempted to just plow into them?  Be Honest!).

The geese, as much as I hate to say it, are here to stay; at least until they run out of greenery to munch on (or so I hope).  So please, don't feed the Poop Monsters.  They'll only come back for more.  More geese equal more poop.  So again I say, please heed my words, and don't feed the Poop Monsters.