OSP at it again

[LTS]

Serious question:  has anyone (including any of the media coverage) looked into TG's side of this?  e.g. is he legally prohibited from shooting the geese or taking other steps, with the result that he has to live with mountains of goose poop?

 

Although it's certainly an appealing narrative, it doesn't seem likely that he would just demand that the town fix a problem on his property with no justification.

 

There are all kinds of controls around handling of the geese.

 

https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7003.html

 

Of course he could do what MCC does.  They have dog statues on their softball field and it keeps the birds from landing there...  easy solution.

[shrader]

There are all kinds of controls around handling of the geese.

 

https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7003.html

 

Of course he could do what MCC does.  They have dog statues on their softball field and it keeps the birds from landing there...  easy solution.

 

My brother picked one off with his tee shot probably about 25 years ago at this point.  He took the thing out of the air mid-flight with a titleist straight to the head.  The course had to go through a ton of steps to get the appropriate people out there to take care of it.  Now I assume there have been plenty of changes since then, but I know it was a major headache for them.  I'd imagine that if it happened today, the rest of the flock would probably be equipped with tiny hockey helmets.  I was going to say football helmets, but then I remembered that they're canadian.

[Weave]

Serious question: has anyone (including any of the media coverage) looked into TG's side of this? e.g. is he legally prohibited from shooting the geese or taking other steps, with the result that he has to live with mountains of goose poop?

 

Although it's certainly an appealing narrative, it doesn't seem likely that he would just demand that the town fix a problem on his property with no justification.

See the DEC link in LTSs reply. He cannot readily use lethal methods for control, but he can have the geese bothered to convince them to congregate elsewhere.

 

He has control methods available but he’ll need to loosen the purse strings.

 

Or go the entitlement route and get the town involved.

 

Frankly, any method that he cannot legally use, the town can’t legally use either. So he’s basically trying to pawn any usable control method off on the tax base.

[That Aud Smell]

Why do I get the feeling that this whole geese thing is just a red herring to try and get his taxes lowered and he doesn't really care about using the poop covered property?

 

His website is taxmypropertyfairly.com, not goosepoopfree.com.

 

I'm not so sure. 

 

I think he does really, really care about the goose poop on his property, and that he really, really wants the government to address and resolve the situation for him ... in no small part because he thinks his taxes are too damn high. As in, "I pay so much in taxes, I should get a concierge service like this."

 

I don't discount, out of hand, the calls for tax reform in states like New York. OTOH, I have come to distrust the motivations of the super rich in advocating for lowered taxes. They claim that their position is meant for the benefit of everyone, but I think it's really just to benefit them.

[Weave]

I have come to distrust the motivations of the super rich in advocating for lowered taxes. They claim that their position is meant for the benefit of everyone, but I think it's really just to benefit them.

If there was a stronger word than “distrust” that I could come up with, I would substitute it in your reply.

[nfreeman]

See the DEC link in LTSs reply. He cannot readily use lethal methods for control, but he can have the geese bothered to convince them to congregate elsewhere.

 

4He has control methods available but he’ll need to loosen the purse strings.

 

Or go the entitlement route and get the town involved.

 

Frankly, any method that he cannot legally use, the town can’t legally use either. So he’s basically trying to pawn any usable control method off on the tax base.

 

I guess the question is whether the government entity that is prohibiting him from employing goose-prevention method XYZ is the same government entity that he is asking to control the geese for him.

[SwampD]

I guess the question is whether the government entity that is prohibiting him from employing goose-prevention method XYZ is the same government entity that he is asking to control the geese for him.

The answer would be no, then. The tax assessor has nothing to do with goose removal.

 

:lol:

[shrader]

The answer would be no, then. The tax assessor has nothing to do with goose removal.

 

:lol:

 

How small is the town? ;)

[LTS]

My brother picked one off with his tee shot probably about 25 years ago at this point.  He took the thing out of the air mid-flight with a titleist straight to the head.  The course had to go through a ton of steps to get the appropriate people out there to take care of it.  Now I assume there have been plenty of changes since then, but I know it was a major headache for them.  I'd imagine that if it happened today, the rest of the flock would probably be equipped with tiny hockey helmets.  I was going to say football helmets, but then I remembered that they're canadian.

 

Nice!

[SwampD]

How small is the town? ;)

:lol:

[Tondas]

My brother picked one off with his tee shot probably about 25 years ago at this point.  He took the thing out of the air mid-flight with a titleist straight to the head.  The course had to go through a ton of steps to get the appropriate people out there to take care of it.  Now I assume there have been plenty of changes since then, but I know it was a major headache for them.  I'd imagine that if it happened today, the rest of the flock would probably be equipped with tiny hockey helmets.  I was going to say football helmets, but then I remembered that they're canadian.

 

A major headache for the golf course?  Imagine how the goose felt.

[Weave]

I guess the question is whether the government entity that is prohibiting him from employing goose-prevention method XYZ is the same government entity that he is asking to control the geese for him.

 

Dude, noone and  no entity is preventing him from goose prevention.  There are perfectly effective, legal means for TG to remove the geese from his property.  He wants someone else to pay for it.

 

OK, devil's advocate.  He isn't allowed to physically ahrm the geese.  The governement entity preventing him from harming the geese is the US Fish and Wildlife Service.  The local tax assessor (hahahahahaha) has no control over Tom's nuisance geese.

 

Edit to add: The treaty that protects geese and all other migratory game birds is Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918.  Tom, with all of his resources, can't not know that this is the case.  He is grandstanding to a group with no control over his geese and he has to know this.

Edited May 24, 2018 by We've

[Wyldnwoody44]

Are we getting into bird law?!?!

 

Paging Charlie

[That Aud Smell]

@we’ve : the local board told him as much!

[Weave]

@we’ve : the local board told him as much!

Yeah, freeman is really stretching trying to justify TGs actions.

[nfreeman]

I was really just asking a question -- not taking sides!

 

(And noting that I haven't really seen any detailed coverage or explanation of TG's position -- just a series of content-lite news stories promoting a "rich skinflint thinks he's entitled to special privileges because he pays a lot in property taxes" narrative -- which are probably eliding some important details.) 

[Eleven]

I was really just asking a question -- not taking sides!

 

(And noting that I haven't really seen any detailed coverage or explanation of TG's position -- just a series of content-lite news stories promoting a "rich skinflint thinks he's entitled to special privileges because he pays a lot in property taxes" narrative -- which are probably eliding some important details.) 

 

No, that's pretty much the whole story.  He's protesting his property taxes and using the goose ###### as his vehicle to do so.

Edited May 25, 2018 by Eleven

[LTS]

No, that's pretty much the whole story.  He's protesting his property taxes and using the goose ###### as his vehicle to do so.

 

Clearly he's full of ####, but not horse#### or bull####.

 

Does anyone care if he sells his property?  I wouldn't.

[BagBoy]

It is fairly common for parks and airports to employ trained dogs to discourage geese from congregating, so the ability to discourage the birds is there, legally.  And he could always change his landscaping to to discourage it as well.

 

If you get Border Collies, you don't even have to train them.  Their herding instincts include exhibiting very predatory-like behavior like crouching low, pursuit that switches quickly from slow and deliberate to full speed and constant locked-in eye contact.  Geese don't like this.  There are literally hundreds of golf courses around the world that use Border Collies to effectively repel geese, not to mention the National Park Service.

 

[Taro T]

If you get Border Collies, you don't even have to train them.  Their herding instincts include exhibiting very predatory-like behavior like crouching low, pursuit that switches quickly from slow and deliberate to full speed and constant locked-in eye contact.  Geese don't like this.  There are literally hundreds of golf courses around the world that use Border Collies to effectively repel geese, not to mention the National Park Service.

 

You think he can afford a border collie? :huh: Sheesh, he's just a billionaire, not a zillionaire. :rolleyes:

 

:p

[Ogre]

If you get Border Collies, you don't even have to train them. Their herding instincts include exhibiting very predatory-like behavior like crouching low, pursuit that switches quickly from slow and deliberate to full speed and constant locked-in eye contact. Geese don't like this. There are literally hundreds of golf courses around the world that use Border Collies to effectively repel geese, not to mention the National Park Service.

 

He told told the local news that there was so much poop that not only did his grandkids need to say inside, but the dogs as well. I wonder how the paid help manages to keep that place so meticulously groomed with all the mountains of do do?

 

Tom’s spread on the lake is gorgeous. I took a random boat ride with Doug Emblidge from 13wham and his wife Colleen a couple summers ago. We stopped for a beer and some snacks in front of Tom’s place. I didn’t see a single goose. Or any turds either.

[Eleven]

If you get Border Collies, you don't even have to train them.  Their herding instincts include exhibiting very predatory-like behavior like crouching low, pursuit that switches quickly from slow and deliberate to full speed and constant locked-in eye contact.  Geese don't like this.  There are literally hundreds of golf courses around the world that use Border Collies to effectively repel geese, not to mention the National Park Service.

 

 

 

He doesn't live there most of the year, though.  I don't think live dogs are an option.  (And again, this whole thing is for show anyway.)

[PASabreFan]

I'm just proud of myself that a toss-away comment in the late 00's about Tom in a Denny's has stuck and even has an acronym. (Eleven, I know it's not really an acronym. Don't be a jerk to me.)

[inkman]

I'm just proud of myself that a toss-away comment in the late 00's about Tom in a Denny's has stuck and even has an acronym. (Eleven, I know it's not really an acronym. Don't be a jerk to me.)

It's magnificent and so apt

[Eleven]

I'm just proud of myself that a toss-away comment in the late 00's about Tom in a Denny's has stuck and even has an acronym. (Eleven, I know it's not really an acronym. Don't be a jerk to me.)

 

It is an acronym.