Abundant geese and urbanization go together

Should a picture of Canada geese overwintering in a park in London, Ontario, appear in blog devoted to urbanization? Yes, it should.

The Canada goose thrives in cities. Safe from most predators, often fed by bird-loving city folk, the large birds form large gaggles, the name for a flock of these birds. And these gaggles can cause urban grief. For instance, in Fredericton New Brunswick the birds interfere with traffic and if irritated will honk at impatient car drivers.

At the very least, the hundreds of geese filling Springbank Park in London make walking in the park difficult, unless one isn't put off by numerous small piles of bird poop. Yuck.

According to Yuval Noah Harari, the author of Sapiens, humans are responsible for driving far more animals into extinction that we usually acknowledge. While a large number of animals are threatened by man, there are some, like the Canada goose, that seem to thrive with thanks to the intervention of man.

Sadly, in most cases neither outcome, extinction or thriving, is desirable.