by Jesse Leavenworth, The Hour
Bristol’s Canada geese problem is Connecticut’s Canada geese problem. The big birds foul parks, swimming areas, and golf courses across the state with their slick poop, not just in the Mum City.
Bristol has tried non-lethal means of scattering geese from a wide boulevard into downtown lined with monuments honoring the city’s wartime service members. The efforts, however, have proved either too costly or ineffective in the long term, and now Mayor Jeff Caggiano is leading a controversial call for a lethal solution.
Caggiano faces fierce opposition from animal rights activists and citizens who say killing geese goes too far, a standoff that has played out repeatedly across the state for years. No one disputes, however, that the wild geese, which can weigh up to 13 pounds, make a mess in the landscaped areas where they like to feed.
… Bristol officials have not made a final decision on whether to use lethal means. In an opinion piece for the Stamford Advocate, Friends of Animals President Priscilla Feral wrote that the big birds are here to stay and people should learn to live with geese. “The only thing to do,” Feral, a resident of the Rowayton section of Norwalk, wrote, “is clean up after them,” noting that equipment is available for the job.