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Miscellaneous See other Miscellaneous Articles Title: Canadian farmer's goose cooked over dead goslings Wheatley, Ont., farmer Don Dierckens, shown here Wednesday. He has been fined $1,000 for killing three goslings said he didn't mean to kill any geese as he was trying to get them away from this field near Port Alma before planting. He said the geese are being protected but not his fields. Don Dierckens said he was just trying to shoo geese from his farm field, but the attempt, which killed three goslings, has cost the Ontario farmer $3,500 in fines, fees and gobbled-up soybean plants. The farmer, who says the marauding geese were destroying his crop, pleaded guilty this week to one charge under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act and was fined $1,000. On top of that, he estimates he forked out an additional $2,000 in legal fees. And then the flock of 100 hungry geese came back and ate young soybean plants that would have produced $500 worth of crops, he said. "There's so many of them and I can do nothing about it," Dierckens said Wednesday from his farm near Wheatley, Ont., southeast of Windsor. "It's illegal to harass migratory birds with a motor vehicle but nothing's being done to protect my rights." Dierckens said he was trying to get the geese off his field on July 13, a day before heavy equipment came to plant, and didn't mean to run them over. But the Ministry of Natural Resources said Dierckens, 70, deliberately drove into the flock with his pickup truck, killing the three young birds. "A concerned member of the public observed a vehicle driving over a flock of geese," said Jolanta Kowalski, a senior media relations officer with the ministry. Dierckens said he pleaded guilty because he didn't want to face more legal fees and possibly higher fines if he lost the case. Two of three charges were dropped. In the last five years, he said, geese have eaten young soybean plants that would have yielded about $5,000 worth of crops. He said that three years ago, he went on vacation after planting. "We came back and the field was stripped." Dierckens, who farms with his son, said the geese are attracted to his field because it's close to Lake Erie. He can't get rid of a small nearby pond that they flock to because he needs it for irrigation, he said. Under the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, it's illegal to use a vehicle for the purpose of killing, injuring, capturing, harassing, pursuing or chasing wildlife. Farmers can apply for a permit to legally shoot up to three geese a week, but Dierckens said it's a measure that works only temporarily. Canada geese are protected by the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act, which is under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Wildlife Service. The service suggests deterrents to farmers such as scare techniques, low fences with fluttering shiny tape, changes in habitat near farms and legal hunting. Farmers have to request permits for noisemakers and to sterilize eggs. Windsor Star Read more: www.windsorstar.com/techn.../story.html#ixzz1WVnmYTx3 Followup story: Farmer fine is harassment By Alex Shaw, The Windsor Star August 30, 2011 5:36 AM Re: Soybean farmer fined for killing geese with truck, by Sharon Hill, Aug. 25. A question for those who are critical of Mr. Don Dierckens: What would you do if you woke up tomorrow and found 100 animals ripping apart your personal property and destroying your livelihood? Canada geese have been granted an almost holy status by the government but they are no different from crows or skunks or mice. If they are left unchecked, they multiply until the population is out of control. A single nesting pair of geese will usually lay between five and seven eggs each season and all of them will return to the same nesting ground every year. At this point next year, Mr. Dierckens' problem will be two to three times larger than it currently is. Wildlife Canada and the Ministry of Natural Resources are apparently populated by a bunch of people who are educated beyond their intelligence. They seem to be the only souls in Canada who don't know that the deterrents they suggest have been tried for years with zero effect. The biological need to feed their young far outweighs any fear a goose may feel at the sight of the dreaded fluttering tape. Rule of thumb, fellas. If the pie-pan noisemaker doesn't work in your backyard garden, it definitely won't work on a 20-hectare farm. Government officials are great at creating rules and regulations. They've been doing it for nearly 150 years and they show no signs of letting up. They are also pretty good at enforcing those rules; Mr. Dierckens is proof of that. If they could just add logical and intelligent thinking to their resume, what a country this would be. Until then, we'll just keep harassing a 70-year-old farmer for protecting his source of income. I mean really, how dare he? ALEX SHAW, Leamington Read more: www.windsorstar.com/techn.../story.html#ixzz1WVkzjHIA
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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
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The relationship between morality and liberty is a directly proportional one. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." ~ Ben Franklin "For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.” ~ Patrick Henry
I believe the correct terminology is "busy-body tattle-tale" and once upon a time, they were shunned, not regarded as heroes.
The only good Canada goose is a dead Canada goose.
"Terrorism is when the innocent are murdered due to the evil actions of the guilty." -- Turtle
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