BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — People who spend time at Bloomsburg Town Park know all about the Canadian geese that live there year-round.
"You know to slow down because they're going to be crossing the road with their babies. It's just nice to watch them," Helen Lynn said.
"I've always seemed to enjoy them, watching them come hang out with their families like they do there," Mark Hughes said.
Around 40 geese live at the park, but according to officials in Bloomsburg, that won't be the case for long. The town council voted this week to participate in a program overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to euthanize some of the birds and donate the meat to food banks.
According to Bloomsburg Mayor Justin Hummel, this is because of the excessive excrement the geese leave behind.
A single goose can leave up to three pounds of droppings per day. Multiply that by dozens of geese, and you have a messy problem.
People we spoke with were not happy about the town council's plan.
"It's part of nature," Frank Bressler said.
"They do defecate, but so do we," Duke Carl said. "I'm just not one for killing an animal because of a little poop. And I'm not an animal activist. I'm a hunter and a fisherman."
The mayor tells Newswatch 16 that the problem is made worse by people constantly feeding the geese.
"I don't really agree with it, but I can't really do much about it," Hughes said.
The Department of Agriculture will round up the geese in late June or early July. That's a bummer for people like Helen Lynn of Bloomsburg, who come to the park every day expecting to see the geese.
"I love the geese. I love seeing their babies grow and watching them swim around. It's great having them around," Lynn said.
According to Bloomsburg's mayor, not all geese will be euthanized. The rest will be trapped and moved.
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