Sir: This business about Keith Koke and his geese concerns me. He’s asking for people to support him in Court on Sept. 25. But what can we do, sit in court awaiting the case and then make faces at the anti-geese people?
My wife and I are very much in favour of his geese – they make a nice tourist attraction – but wouldn’t a petition have more effect than crowding into a court? After all, I am a wobbly 75-year-old!
Perhaps somebody from the pro-geese side could come up with a suggestion.
I have always believed in manure for a garden and the excrement from birds (preferably sea birds) is a highly effective fertilizer due to its exceptionally high content of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium, all of which plants love to absorb.
The 19th-century guano trade played a pivotal role in the development of modern input-intensive farming practices and inspired the formal colonization of remote bird islands in many parts of the world.
During the 20th century, guano-producing birds became an important target of conservation programs and influenced the development of environmental consciousness. Today, I am told, guano is increasingly sought after by organic farmers.
But things could become more serious. Remember Alfred Hitchcock’s movie “The Birds” and Daphne de Maurier’s novel with the same name? Geese are birds and birds stick together. In 2008 there were 478 species of birds living in Ontario, plus the many other varieties who use the shores of the Great Lakes as a stopping point during migration.
Just imagine the Alfred Hitchcock scenario taking over in Chatham, the city famous for our crows and rooks!
Hey! Let’s have a plebiscite. When and if we do, I will always vote on the side of the geese!
Stephen J. Beecroft
Chatham
