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November 08, 1979 - More Geesep November 8, 1979 on ture -ay Paul Stou enburgh --_ ESP 0.tiflfaiit .E10 From every corner of our island 1 hear talk about geese. Flow come there are so many' -- Have you seen the geese oul in the fields? -- Did you see all the geese going over our house yesterday? -- All of these com- ments give evidence to the.fact that we have more geese on the east end than ever before. Years ago when I was a kid we'd occasionally see small flocks around, but they never stayed. They were on migration. It was part of their general pattern to stop here and there to feed and rest and then move on. Today the story's quite different. We not only have good flocks of geese from Riverhead east, but some of the flocks are getting down right out of hand, according lo reports. I'ni told the problem is critical out at Plum Island, where they have almost outworn their welcome. The same is true on the south side where geese and their droppings have, shall we say. made it difficult to get out on the golf course Imagine the golfer who has just teed off and his ball luckily dropped right on the green. Now it should Ije -ogrsy to putt to the cup. But no. The geed have spent the day there and the obstacles they have left present a golfer's nightmare often in the natural world condition:; change and a favorable breeding season brings forth an over - abundance of a species. or perhaps, the usual predators that kept the species in check did not perform as in the past a111t.10 excess population developed. These and Inurrlrecls of other factors give us cycles of holh abnrd;mce;nd scarcity. This is why in many instance:; game 11na's are put No effect lu help balance nut this fluctua lion How 1fee1' Population Spiraled some it might sound cruel to cul down a Murk or herd so 1((1101 it sloes not starve, bul nothing can be More cruel than the slow lingering death of starvation. And we must remember that in most 00-111rnce; these. over- and under- abundances have been caused by 1 ,111'0 inferfcrence in one wary or ;utnlher. The classic example of over - abundance is the deer population. 'Today in New York State we have more deer than when our founding fathers arrived in this country. The reason is simple. Deer are browsing animals and require open brushy clearings. Not deep forests. It was not until man started clearing these forests that the deer population spiraled. 'Then later it went down, when over three- quarters of the state had been cleared for farming and the forest clearings with their bountiful browsing grounds diminished. \Pith their disappearance the deer popula- tion again declined. As time went on and the young men left the farms for the big city, farms were slowly abandoned about the stale and the brushy countryside took over. Now the population increased again with deer to such an extent there were more deer than food. By then we had also eliminated the deer's predator. the timber wolf and the mountain lion. Overpopulation was every- where. S.l. Deer An Example To control this, game laws came into effect, studies were made to determine where the high -low populations were. And the science of game management took its place as a profession. Today right here on Long Island we can see the results of this game management in our own deer popula- tion. The classic example I know of is on Shelter Island where I am told before deer hunting was permitted the deer were small, thin and unhealthy. If was the same old story. Too many deer and not enough food. With the culling out of the deer herd by hunting we now have a stronger and healthier herd and the deer population in general is the better for it. I'm not sure when I started to notice more geese, around on the East End. Perhaps it was lour or five years ago, when I was wandering around in those wonderful wet areas to the south of Riverhead, now called the C'1nborry Bog Preserve. I remember finding a pair of geese nesting almost within the shadows of the Prison Tower. This was just one nl three pairs that I found in the general vicinity that day, which brings me to another point. More geese are nesting in our area than ever before. This fact. probably more than anything else, has increased the geese population, for not only do they bring off big clutches, but they attract migrating geese that otherwise might not have stopped off here on Long Island. Streams Of honking Geese Needless to say there is nothing more impressive than seeing a flock of geese coming into a field in the afternoon. The sky is aglow with the brilliant colors of a fall sunset. There is a chill in the air and then you hear them -- nothing is visible as yet -- then all of a sudden you see them. Endless streams of honking geese, wing s outstretch- ed. A sight to remember. 1 saw just such a sigh) one late afternoon two years ago in Southampton, where geese have been seen in great numbers for years. My wife and I had been shopping and as the afternoon drew to a close the shopkeeper, knowing I was interested in the outdoors. asked if I had seen the great flocks to the east_ Being from the north shore T. of course, remarked "No." A few hasty instructions and Barbara and 1 were off to a certain field way off in hack of the school. And so we were introduced on that afternoon to one of nature's late fall spectacles. We don't have geese in the great quant- ities that they do on the south shore. But we surely do have more geese here today than ever before. I know of one couple who feed the geese on their beach each morning. Page 11A GANDER--This male goose and his flock are typical of the sights many people are enjoying on the North Fork this year. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh The gander you see in the photo typifies These handsome birds. Whether you see them on your bay beach. in a vacant rye lot feeding, or high in the sky in a long V as they head south, they will always make your blood run a little taster and acquaint you with that long ago kinship of the wild our forefathers once 1:11ew so well. Two Great Names to fill your Fuel-011 & Service Needs R.A. BURT'S McCALLU'M RELJABLE 4.15 East Main Street 429 Fourth Street. Riverhead Greenport 7274336 477 -0057 We are proud to offer to our customers and friends assatredd fi.acl oil supply. We have signed supply contracts with 6 saippliers 1) Northville Industries 2) Metropolitan Petroleum 3) Patchogue oil Terminal We do not believe our competitors can make this sta 4) Exxon 5) Gulf 6) Mobil Our service contracts do not contain a hidden extr e for Sunday and holiday burner service, like some of our competitors do. 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