Grizzly bears, cougars and even the gentle deer and goose, are "dangerous" "threats", to the timid Mr Morgan. I wonder would he care to contrast the numbers of these animals killed by humans, as opposed to the numbers in which we have slaughtered them? Who is the "dangerous threat" to whom?Maybe if the over producing, destructive and savage human stopped encroaching on the homes of these creatures, they would not prove to be such a "problem". But worry not, Morgan, soon enough man, in his voracious, insatiable need to destroy, will have obliterated these animals from the earth and you can crawl out from under your bed.

American's most dangerous animal is uninformed humans who write unresearched articles based on nothing more than their own dislike of innocent animals.  

Mr. Gwyn,  

Here are more facts about Flight 1549 - it's engines did not even meet the current standards;  it was an Airbus A320 and in 2004 the FAA had warned the airbus A320 was prone to DOUBLE ENGINE STALL after a fatal crash in europe.  In a decade over 600 people died world wide in Airbus A320 crashes.  It had turbofan engines which suck birds into them.   Flight 1549 is not a plane anyone with facts really wants to refer to again. 

The FAA had issued warnings in 2004 that the Airbus A320  was prone to double engine failure.

“An emergency safety directive has been issued to airlines using twin-engine Airbus A320s after both engines on one stalled over the Mediterranean, just 18 days after an Air New Zealand A320 crashed killing all seven on board………. American authorities warned such stalling problems could prevent continued safe flight or landing.”

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/tech_ops/read.main/246674/

About 645 people died in a decade in A320 crashes...NONE of those crashes was related to a Canada goose or any other wildlife.   

Fatal and significant airbus A320 incidents:

http://www.airsafe.com/events/models/a320.htm

Finally, the engines of Flight 1549 did not meet the current engine standards for bird strikes...and you have to wonder if they had would this plane have been so disabled it couldn't make it back to land safely at an airport.

"In 1996, the engines that would later be used on U.S. Airways Flight 1549 were

certificated for bird ingestion according to these standards. In 2007, the FAA adopted new regulations regarding bird strikes, and the new rules increased the size of the birds used in the core tests to 5½ pounds. However, engines certificated prior to 2007 were not obliged to meet the new requirements."

NASA:  SystemFailureCaseStudyFile

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CFAQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnsc.nasa.gov%2FSFCS%2FSystemFailureCaseStudyFile%2FDownload%2F181%2F&ei=9q3YT5b7L8ycmQWH7qGbAw&usg=AFQjCNF7rGvJ4BQcaCxiEMZQqC0BASg4Nw&sig2=yIoWBw9Q7R221jhly0gamQ

Flight 1549 also had turbofan engines....these engines experience 5 times the bird ingestion other planes do.  

The only real miracle about Flight 1549 was that it didn't crash sooner. 

Lets look at the facts on plane crashes:   The top cause of fatal plane crashes is pilot error.  Bird strikes don't even have their own category.  

CBS recently interviewed David Soucie, aviation expert,  former crash investigator with the FAA, and author of ‘Why Planes Crash’.   He says planes crash because of PILOTS.  Not Canada geese, but PILOTS.  

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7412058n&tag=mnRunDownTab%3BmnRunDownList

Ten top reasons for fatal plane crashes – wildlife and Canada geese specifically don’t even have their own category.   Pilot error always has and continues to top the list. 

http://planecrashinfo.com/cause.htm

Mr. Gwyn, maybe you want to do some research before you write about Canada geese again.  Culling is not the humane method of choice for managing their population in urban areas and creates a LOT of bad PR.  

NEWS RELEASE:  EGG ADDLING CONTROLS GOOSE POPULATION

The Okanagan Valley Goose Management program is working on its SIXTH YEAR OF EGG ADDLING TO CONTROL THE NUMBER OF CANADA GEESE in public spaces.

“LAST YEAR,  field crews located and ADDLED 1308 EGGS FROM 274 nests between Vernon and Osoyoos,” said Project Coordinator Kate Hagmeier. “The multi-year project aims to reduce the population of resident Canada geese to a more manageable level, and reduce large concentrations of geese in heavily used public areas.

http://www.okanagangooseplan.com/?p=195

http://www.okanagangooseplan.com/

http://www.okanagangooseplan.com/files/OVGMP_Strategy_Action%20Plan_2006.pdf

It is just sad a Canadian has to use rely on American sources for Canadian airport wildlife management.  Canada has one of the best aviation safety records in the world and our airports already have some of the best wildlife hazards/birdstrike control management in the world. 

The International Bird Strike Committee has never been impressed with the FAA/USDA's wildlife management around airports, referring to the FAA as far back as 2003 as example of 'the old safety culture'...that means they do nothing until something  happens then react in a knee jerk fashion. 

I want to point out - Flight 1549 ran into MIGRATORY GEESE FROM LABRADOR, CANADA -  the feathers were analyzed at the Smithsonian Feather Analysis Laboratory.  

Do you understand - NYC is on the Atlantic Flyway and a plane ran into migratory birds from Canada.  Millions of birds migrate every year along the flyways and unless you want to kill every bird on the planet there will be a chance of such a bird strike.  It is notable that the worst fatal plane crash in history was a plane that ran into a flock of SMALL STARLINGS at Logan Airport in 1960.   Bird strikes are not new.

Vancouver, BC is consistently ranked one of the most liveable cities in the world. It has just been ranked ‘the most reputable’ city in the world. 

Vancouver has a year round, permanent resident population of Canada geese which has been humanely managed for DECADES with humane nonlethal methods.  This is an excerpt from an email I received from the Vancouver Parks Board Wildlife Services about our humane goose management:

“The Vancouver Park Board has conducted a management program for Canada geese for over 30 years in the City of Vancouver.  This work is done with the full support of the Canadian Wildlife Service and Ministry of Environment and all work is done under permits.  The program has never been about the eradication of Canada Geese from our city or parks.  Rather, we have striven to maintain a humane wildlife control program which provides for a balance between acceptable numbers of Canada Geese, and seeks to reduce conflict with human uses in the urban environment.

Egg addling is a very effective method of goose “birth control” and is the least invasive way of reducing the recruitment to the population.  It is still the most humane and practical means of controlling the population.  It does not require culling of adult birds.   There is a brief period of stress while visiting the nestsites, but this is unavoidable.  The birds do complete their cycle of pairing, nesting and laying, but the end result is fewer birds introduced to the habitat. 

Our staff have attempted many techniques for control of geese in the urban environment over the years.  We believe that our approach is the most direct and humane.  We have investigated the use of the product (OvoControlG),  as you have suggested.  However, we have concerns about the use of chemicals in our environment and the limited effectiveness for wild flocks where dosage and administration is uncontrolled.  We will however re-visit this technique to see if it has merit for our situation.

In conclusion, I want to assure you that our staff takes the issue of Canada Goose management very seriously, and that we exercise care and consideration for the birds.  We strive to balance the needs of the human environment with those of the geese in the best manner possible.”

.....in other words nobody needs an amateur wildlife non-expert and goose hater telling us how to manage our Canada geese.   

Let's ban cars. Cars kill more people than geese. So do guns. So do so many other things. Geese are pretty far down on the danger to human scale. Flying just scares too many people, so any idea that something will make flying safer is accepted. A bogus and terrible solution.

Propaganda at its very finest -- or worst, depending on one's view. 

3.8 million geese in North America.  7 billion humans in world. 

WHO is "overpopulated?"

This article is absurd. Saying geese are the #1 most dangerous animal in Canada and the USA  is simply an article of hatred of a species by the author and strains credulity on all counts. Captain Sullenberger could have avoided the geese flying but he was too busy chatting with his pilot mate to notice. And to say the geese took the lakes from children..excuse me, geese are waterbirds. Lakes are in nature and for nature.

Mr. Morgan says he is a business leader and director of two global corporations. Hmm, how about naming the two global corporations? And what is in it for you to annihilate nature?