A week ago Monday, we had a very major outrage at and near the finish line of the Boston Marathon with the explosion of two bombs and the killing and maiming of many people in the audience. The week was climaxed on Friday with the shut down of the municipal transit system and a request that millions of Boston people and Boston area businesses close down and stay in residences. The shutdown resulted in the arrest of the second of two suspects, a pair of brothers, after the first suspect died in a gun fight.
George Despotes provides the following comments on the side benefits for animals of what was a nightmare week for humans.
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The "lock-down" (red alert advisory?) probably was better for the geese than anything imaginable;
The number of humans out and about diminished significantly and my guess is that geese can find a lot to feed on in the natural environment.
[During the shutdown, it] was really pleasant and as I passed the Christ Church Parish, I noticed a rabbit "taking care of the grass cutting."
I presume the geese are involved in similar activity, though I know not precisely what they eat.
Thank you for your e-mail and hope that you share the concern for the Cambridge environment that resulted in the Boston tragedy; we are all products of our past experience and Cambridge, like Boston and New England can be quite unfriendly.
Town gown relationships here must be said to be less than optimal; I do not think there are many that would disagree with that.
Thank you very much for your thoughtful consideration.
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It is decidedly frightening that one way to temporarily deter animal abusers was society’s response to abusive people many levels worse.
We have seen, at the destroyed nesting area an apparent killer of nesting geese who graduated to rape and murder where he had been killing and maiming Charles River White Geese. His killings peaked first with the killing of the leader of the gaggle in a day of multiple outrages, and then with the rape and murder in the same location. He is now in jail for many years.
The Cambridge City Council was specifically requested by a number of people to stop the outrageous attacks on the geese with the repeated comment that animal abusers graduate. The Cambridge City Council responded with a silence which could be considered support for the ongoing outrage. The Cambridge City Council then spent an hour discussing the rape and murder but did not want to know where the rape and murder occurred.
The route of the Boston Marathon passes a mile south of the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese. The finish line is 2 miles east of the Destroyed Nesting Area. Franklin Street, Watertown, MA, which was near the focus of the shutdown and was the place of the capture, is 4 miles to the west. The residence of the older brother was about 2 miles to the north of the Destroyed Nesting Area.
Many people walk the BU Bridge next to the Destroyed Nesting Area to view the Boston Marathon.
