“For some people, these stay-put geese, estimated at 4 million, are just as majestic as the ones that migrate. From a distance, a flock of geese on a corporate lawn or a golf course fairway give man-made landscapes a more natural look. But majestic isn’t a word that leaps to mind for many people who live close to local birds. To them the geese have lost their wild elegance. They have become web-footed vagrants. Some people call them “lawn carp”” (Sterba, 122). 

This passage describes the idea behind the title ‘lawn carp’ and the perspective of people living with them. People feel disconnected from nature and the animals in it. When people are not properly informed on a particular issue, even one that has direct effects close to home, people cannot form an educated opinion on the issue and how to approach it.

“Progoose and antigoose people argue about fecal output… One oft-quoted claim is that one goose can produce 1.5 pounds (dry weight) of feces per day. That means one hundred geese would daily produce 150 pounds of feces. This has been called a gross exaggeration. Ask people who live or work around geese how much excrement geese produce, however, and most say, ‘Too much!'” (Sterba, 123). 

Again, this passage indicates the lack of awareness in people who don’t know the facts and only state loudly that a problem exists. However, this does nothing to actually go about solving the issue. This passage also raises particular concerns for those willing to look beyond the gross idea of so much feces. Fecal coliform in drinking or swimming water presents concerns of E. Coli and other nasty diseases. Decreased water quality also causes algal blooms and oxygen deprivation, or eutrophication. Although many remain uninformed, there are large implications of the geese problem, fueling the battle between the antigoose and progoose factions. The mention of coliform and eutrophication reminded me of my ongoing environmental poster project, in which my group is exploring the relationships between riparian buffers, water quality, and human health. We discuss these two problems in our project, but we also discuss how riparian buffers (vegetated areas between terrestrial and aquatic zones) are proven to mitigate the effects in water. Riparian buffer development might then be another worthwhile endeavor in relation to the geese problem discussed by Sterba.