Syracuse.com - New York City woman outraged by photo showing 12-year-old boy following successful goose hunt with dad

[HuntingNY-News]

"As far as the claim that hunting helps in father/son 'bonding,' I personally find this ludicrous," she said.

Patty Adjamine, a resident of the Upper East Side in Manhattan, contacted me recently, expressing outrage and disgust about my outdoors blog running a photo of her blog where she runs photos of ducks and the one goose at Central Park.

I don't argue with my readers about their philosophies about how the outdoors should be enjoyed. I learned early on that when one covers everything from birding to bear hunting you get a wide range of thoughts and opinions on just about anything. I did try to explain, though, to Adjamine there's a world of difference about life down in New York City versus Upstate New York, and that in fact there's so many Canada geese up here (and across the state for that matter) that the state Department of Environmenntal Conservation recently announced that it was upping the daily take limit during the September season to 15 geese a day.

Before agreeing to run her comments below, I asked her a bit about herself.

Adjamine said she takes 2 ½ mile walks every day to visit and observe "my" ducks and one goose at Harlem Meer in Central Park. Usually take photos and keep a journal (blog) of observations over the years.

" The reason for writing about geese and ducks is that when discovering these birds in the park some years back and seeking information about them through books, all I could find was where to hunt them...Not exactly what I was seeking," she said.

Adajamine supplied this photo she took of an unidentified girl feeding a goose at Central Park.Patty Adajamine 

Adajamine said she has been a vegetarian since 1978. "I do consume some organic dairy and yes, I am sure that plays a role in attitudes towards hunting -- especially for the argument of eating one's kills.

"Obviously, meat is not essential for human health and according to much recent research, contributes to diseases such as heart disease, cancer, hypertension, obesity and a number of others. Among recent converts to or advocates of veganism are Bill Clinton (for health reasons) and Bill Gates (due to concerns for environmental destruction, waste of resources and unsustainability of meat based diet to feed growing human population).

"Obviously, I am vegetarian mostly for ethical reasons, but do have concerns for the environmental impacts of (particularly) factory farming as well as its inexcusable abuse of animals," she wrote.

The following is Adjamine's comments about the boy holding up two Canada geese that he bagged:

"Canada geese have been long-time victims of wildlife mismanagement, as well as endless hunting campaigns that nearly sent the birds to extinction in the beginning of the last century.

"Fearing loss of a favorite hunting target, wildlife biologists and hunting clubs captured the few remaining geese, (found in Minnesota) clipped wings and bred them to "restore" the population. Thousands of geese were later released, especially in the North East.

"However, since the geese were bred and raised in this country, they had no instinct to "migrate" to Canada or the Arctic and over time their descendents became what is now known as "resident" geese and generally considered a "pest" -- especially when escaping hunters' bullets and taking up residence in urban parks.

"I personally speculate that since originally bred and raised by humans, "resident" Canada geese are very different from their wild, migratory counterparts in that they are far more acclimated and comfortable around people -- almost like pets. Many Canada geese are very friendly and trusting towards humans -- even walking up and taking food out of childrens' hands.

"In New York City and elsewhere, thousands of Canada geese are annually rounded up and slaughtered by USDA "Wildlife Services." Hundreds of thousands more are shot by hunters.

"Currently, in NYC, we have one Canada goose in Central Park. (Presumably, her mate and family were wiped out this summer in a USDA cull.)

"Canada geese mate for life and I can tell you a goose who has lost his/her mate is a very sad sight indeed. These birds mourn the loss of mates (or families) and it can be a very long time -- if ever -- that they pair up again.

"You may laugh at the suggestion that these birds could eventually go the way of the Passenger Pigeon considering they are regarded as such a "pest" now and widely hunted and "culled."

"But, consider we once had hundreds of millions of passenger pigeons whereas there are an estimated 3.8 million Canada geese in this country according to Dept of Interior.

"I don't believe Canada geese (or any wildlife for that matter) should be regarded "useful" to humanity and the planet only as hunting targets.

"It is sad that some children are being taught this attitude by parents. This is one of the primary reasons thousands of species are brought to extinction.

"As far as the claim that hunting helps in father/son "bonding," I personally find this ludicrous.

"There are hundreds of productive, non-lethal ways parents can "bond" with children. When my daughter was growing up, I spent thousands of hours with her photographing nature. She is a very successful and happily married woman now and she would be the first to tell you that her life was not "deprived" for lack of having a gun in her hand and shooting animals with a parent.

"Anyway, I may be the only one to actually write you of the disgusting photo, but I doubt I am the only one turned off by it.

"Hunting has actually fallen in popularity over the years despite Fish and Wildlife and other government agencies (and some "Outdoors" columns) doing all they can to promote and shove it down people's throats.

"As we become more educated and informed about the delicate webs of life and how each species plays an important role in nature (including Canada geese), fewer of us enjoy the thought of blowing away animals for sadistic pleasure or so-called, "parent/child bonding."

"Animals are far more enjoyable when alive. "

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog