If you gaggle (a group of geese on land) or google “Canada geese,” you quickly discover municipalities across the U.S. are quick to cry “fowl” over problems with them.

“Long Island town struggling in battle against Canada Geese…”

“Canada geese have taken over a park in Illinois, and not everyone is ready to welcome the feathery visitors…”

“Seattle park overrun by geese and their voluminous poop…”

As you can see, Alpena is by no means unique to the geese problem.

On Friday, the first of two city hunts of the geese was held. The second will occur Sept. 14. The hunts are aimed at thinning the goose population to make levels in the city more manageable.

While the need for these hunts is unfortunate, city officials have tried numerous tactics to reduce goose numbers in the city, with little to no success. And, while there is inconvenience from the hunts with closed areas of the city during the hours of the hunt (Mich-e-ke-wis, fairgrounds, parts of the Bi-Path), we are hoping the inconvenience is minor compared to the projected success of the participating hunters.

Everyone loves Canada Geese, up to a point, and that point generally is when they begin to slide on some fresh goose “grease.”

And where there’s one dropping, there always is a lot more.

We believe the September hunts are necessary to ensure the geese don’t wear out their welcome in Alpena.