Canada Goose

Canada Goose

Branta canadensis

Size: 25-43"

Habitat: in and around water

Notes:
The cows of the avian world, geese are one of the only types of bird that eat grass. Their large size is necessary to carry all of the required digestive apparatus. Geese are supposed to migrate through our area, leaving only very small resident populations, but they have taken to our grassy parks and campuses so well that now huge populations live here year-round.

These resident geese are thought to be descendants of captive birds that were used by hunters as live decoys in years past, and either escaped or were set free. These geese couldn't find Canada if they wanted to, and they don't want to. It is doubtful that they even breed with their migratory cousins.

These are not nice birds. They are noisy, they obstruct traffic and cause accidents, and they defecate everywhere on everything, fouling walkways, playgrounds, and water supplies. They will even attack small children and are especially belligerent when guarding their own young. What is needed for these resident geese is a reclassification from protected migratory waterfowl to feral pests, so that they can be disposed of properly.

Canada Goose Flying Vee

Canada Geese migrate in huge V-shaped formations like this every Spring and Fall. Or at least, they are supposed to.


Horseshoe Crab

Horseshoe Crabs Limulus polyphemus are extremely common in the rivers and bays of this area. They are actually more closely related to spiders than to the other crustaceans on this page. In fact, technically they are not crustaceans at all. Despite their fierce-looking array of claws and spines, they are completely harmless.

They are also completely inedible - not even the native Indians would eat them except in the direst emergency. They are nonetheless threatened by man since vast numbers are collected commercially for fertilizer, bait, and other uses. Horseshoe Crabs are found from the water's edge down to 75 feet.

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