Sunday, June 25, 2023

More Details About The Mass Murder Of Sikes Lake Geese


 A couple days ago I blogged about the Mass Execution Of Sikes Lake Geese By MSU & Texas Wildlife Services.

At time I knew only a few details about the Goose Executions. I now know a lot more.

From one local news source I learned many locals are not okay with the goose mass murders...

Rumors of the removal of the geese from Sikes Lake began circulating on social media prior to Monday, June 19, leading to overwhelming backlash from many community members.

Many residents of Wichita Falls continue to express outrage and sadness over the decision to remove and euthanize almost all of the geese at Sikes Lake, and our newsroom continues to field questions from viewers and outraged comments on social media.
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334 geese were killed.

The flock of geese was concentrated using something called "funnel nets" directing the birds into a trailer. Carbon dioxide was then pumped into the trailer, killing the geese.

I do not know what was done with the 334 dead geese. I also do not know when this mass execution took place, as in what time of the day. There are always people at Sikes Lake during the day. How is it not photos have shown up of this happening?

Since the original story about this appeared in the Wichita Falls Times Record News, with that article saying the reason for killing all thoses geese was due to the damage they were doing to the MSU campus. This was said without explaining what that damage was.

Subsequent articles in other local news sources have elaborated on what the geese were doing that was so damaging. Such as grazing on lake side vegetation which supposedly destroyed ground cover, leading to erosion and siltation.

I have walked around Sikes Lakes many times over the years and have seen zero evidence of ground cover destruction.

Also, it is claimed that goose poop contains a high level of salmonella, which presented a danger to kids who came in contact with it.

It is also now claimed that a lake with a high population of birds can cause a botulism outbreak.

The plan to keep the Sikes Lake goose population under control seems a tad bizarre. Apparently something called an "egg-addling" program is going to be implemented.

To addle an egg means you cover a fertilized egg with vegetable oil. This cuts off the oxygen supply to the goose waiting to hatch. The mama goose then continues to sit on the egg, which will never hatch. As long as the mama goose is sitting on some eggs, she won't lay any new eggs.

This really makes little sense to me. How long does the poor mama goose sit on those eggs, waiting for them to hatch? And how are the egg nests found? I have never seen a nesting goose at Sikes Lake. I have seen dozens upon dozens of newly hatched goslings, but never a nest.

That photo at the top I took months ago. Two ladies were creating a goose frenzy, feeding the goose flock birdseed. I talked to the two ladies. They daily delivered birdseed to the Sikes Lake geese. The geese recognized the lady's vehicle upon arrival causing the flock to flock towards the vehicle. 

The lady in the photo, surrounded by geese, told me she had rescued an injured goose a couple days prior. Had taken the goose to a veterinarian, who was fixing the injured bird. The lady was getting the goose later that day to return it to the lake.

I suspect those two birdseed feeding ladies are among the many upset about the execution of 334 Sikes Lake geese...

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