Last week’s graceful landing and avoiding a potentially catastrophic airplane accident made a hero of pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who managed to steer clear of Manhattan’s buildings and glide to safety on the Hudson River. Passengers, all of whom survived, sang the praises of the man who kept control of his aircraft and oversaw the safe evacuation of all on board. Chesley and his crew were invited by now-President Obama to attend the inauguration festivities, interviewed on countless news outlets and seen as general symbols of human kindness in the midst of trouble.
It seems that not everyone can see the bright side, however. The New York Post ran a cover story last weekend proclaiming that the only way to ensure safe air passage is to eliminate Canadian geese from the skies. If that means capturing them, fine. Killing them? Also fine.
The Post, a well-loved New York paper with a circulation of over 690,000 daily, deserves its loyal following, but it breaks my heart to think of hundreds of thousands of readers being asked to blame birds for taking up sky-space. Really? Are we entitled not only to all of the land that we’ve developed and mined and logged and paved, but also the skies and seas that surround it?
Wildlife biologist Steve Garber, whom the Post says used to run the wildlife-mitigation program at Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark airports says that besides shooting geese or poking holes in their nested eggs, “there are lots of ways” to get rid of the geese. “You can throw rocks at them. You can hit them with sticks … These are things that people don’t like. But, we are talking about geese.”
The article’s accompanying photo of a bulls-eyed goose poised in flight begs the question: “Is it any wonder where humans came up with our model for flying machines?” We mimic their form, then blame them for being what they are. Let’s seek a little balance between humankind and nature, shall we? (And bravo, Chesley. Very nicely done.)