When I was a little girl, the Canada Goose was in danger of extinction. I explicitly recall a great event when I was perhaps four or five years old. There was an uproar in the neighbourhood and my father grabbed me to run outside and see something wonderful. All up and down the street were neighbours pointing at the sky and hold up their children in great excitement. My mother clapped her hands and shouted “Spring is coming at last!”
As we all watched a flock of about fifty Canada geese flew over honking and calling, me on my father’s board shoulders. I remember thinking it was pretty neat. I had never seen such a bird before.
My father then went on to tell me the great birds had once filled the skies but they were now in danger of going extinct because of the greed and stupidity of humanity who had over hunted the glorious bird. I was really sad that the day might come that these majestic birds with their haunting call might vanish from the earth. If things don’t change, my father said, my children would not get to see a migrating goose. I was sad. It was the start of my interest in being an environmentalist.
Flash forward five decades (okay five decades plus a few years) and not only has that Canada Goose not gone extinct, it has become a right bloody nuisance. There is currently a Canada Goose hiding out in a Winnipeg car wash trying to survive the winter in the cold. It is far too canny for anyone to catch. The reason geese are thriving is because they have adapted to us and like our golf courses, suburbs and even our car washes. All I can say (after a muttered curse when I have goose poop on my shoes again) is I wish every species in danger of going extinct could have such a resurgence. On the other hand, I should be careful what I wish for.
Update” That silly goose was finally rescued.
Tumbleweeds Tumbling 