BirdingNZ.net

Seeing as how the eradication of mustelids, feral cats, rats, and possums is no longer considered a fantastical concept, I've been thinking; once those pests are gone, that will mean that the next targets will be mice, rabbits, hares, feral goats, and possibly feral sheep and cattle (deer and feral horses would probably be exempt from this), and, either at the same time or just after these pests are gone, it will be likely that widespread attempts at eradicating introduced birds will take place as well.
The priority targets when this occurs will be mynas, sparrows, magpies, and rosellas, among others, and while Canada geese would probably not be an exception, I can't help but wonder; would there be significant opposition from shooters who would not want them to be eradicated, or would there be far more people who would want them wiped out, due to their reputation as a crop and pasture pest?

If we eradicate all of game birds as Canada geese, Mallard ducks, feral peafowls, feral turkeys, quails, pukukos, and feral Greylag geese and Cape Barren geese, pheasants, feral chickens, this would be stupid idea to waste our foods through eradicating. Wild gamebirds tend to be healthy and much less fatty than domesticed gamebirds.

Mallard ducks may be a pain in neck, bashing these Grey ducks and raping them, but they provide us with foods as duck meats and teach us about colour mutations and our domestic ducks came from wild Mallard duck. Canada geese may be dangerous and feeding & fouling pastures in farms, but they feeds us people as meats. Why eradicate our foods.

Rosellas and Mallard drakes provide colour to environment, and are beautiful & colourful.

Only true pests are sparrows, magpies, mynas and blackbirds, rooks, feral pigeons, starlings would be eradicated as they are annoyance to gardeners & farmers, toileting in pig feeding toughs while magpies attack native birds, while huge clouds of sparrows raid wheat fields, caused massive damages.
Song Thrush and chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch and redpoll, yellowhammer, Carl buntings, chinese spotted doves & ringed doves, rosellas and cockatoos would not be eradicated as they eat weed seeds, insects, garden snails in gardens.

Think what happened to people get lost in bush and go hungry, and look at a native pigeon and a feral turkey, it would be more sense to shoot a turkey than breaking the laws by shooting the native pigeon. Nonnative gamebirds had kept us humen alive.

I would appreciate at least one serious answer to this.

It's a hypothetical question, and you are asking what a group of people largely not represented here (goose shooters) might think. That's a bit tough to answer.

Very difficult decisions regarding Mallard ducks, about whether they are allowed to stay in NZ or be eradicated off NZ, due they are not native here, had kicked Grey ducks out of existence.
People have to be given the votes about Mallard ducks to stay or Mallard ducks to go.
If more people vote for Mallard ducks to stay, than less people that vote for Mallard ducks to go, then Mallard ducks will not be eradicated and are allowed to roam freely over NZ. But that will means Grey ducks face extinction through hybridizing with Mallard ducks.

Maybe you should ask Fish and Game if they regard Canada Geese as a good game bird. I guess they don't and they aren't that hard to shoot and are now off the gamebird list and fair whack for any old landowner and his dog. They aren't that edible unless young and apart from livers for salami and such are not that good for the pot.
I'm prepared to be proved wrong on that however.

I have heard that they are very hard to shoot,being intelligent and requiring serious efforts from the hunters in camouflage, decoying,checking out flight paths etc etc?I was also told they are very good to eat but have not personally tried one?

les wrote:I have heard that they are very hard to shoot,being intelligent and requiring serious efforts from the hunters in camouflage, decoying,checking out flight paths etc etc?I was also told they are very good to eat but have not personally tried one?

The geese being elusive and wary of hunters is what I have read as well. The book Gamekeepers for the nation has an entire chapter about their history in NZ, and what is said about the geese makes it somewhat unbelievable that they were partially protected until the current decade.

One of the problems is the provision of habitat that the birds love - lush green pasture, especially with walking access from water. I've also heard that shooting makes the birds wily and extends their range. A good challenge for hunters. A combination of making life difficult for the species, destroying nests and culling when flightless is more likely to be effective, but perhaps less satisfying for a hunter or someone who sees the species as a problem. Other birds don't seem to be all that bothered by their presence, and they seem to mostly prefer human-altered landscapes, so there may be an argument they aren't causing much of a conservation problem.

Quite a few people I've met seem to like to like them, especially seeing and hearing them flying overhead. So they might be sorry to see them gone.

If the UK is anything to go by Feral (Greylag) Geese are likely to be the next problem - I've noticed significantly increased numbers in Canterbury in recent years, though from a small base. They go around in small flocks in the UK fowling city parks just like Canada Geese.

I think you mean 'fouling' Nick! Though 'fowling' is just as good.
I really like them too, having been used to wild Brent geese in UK, it's nice to have a bird that makes those lovely wild wintry sounds.
Anyone care to comment on their use as food?
David Lawrie?