Lord Atmo wrote: WOW!!!ohh CSX, what will you do next?man i can just picture that. i'd just be sitting at the edge of the yard watching the action. all of a sudden this conductor runs out from behind a cut of rolling stock with a mad goose chasing him. i would probably suffocate from laughter
WOW!!!
ohh CSX, what will you do next?
man i can just picture that. i'd just be sitting at the edge of the yard watching the action. all of a sudden this conductor runs out from behind a cut of rolling stock with a mad goose chasing him. i would probably suffocate from laughter
I wonder if geese can be trained to change a broken knuckle? If so, a LOT of conductors might be due for early retirement.
On the over population angle of this it seems that if these animals had natural predation the numbers would be more easily managed. As far as the poor guy who was attacked it is a shame. I can only imagine the ribbing he is taking from co workers I worked for Chessie years ago and my crew would have loved this.
Your friendly neighborhood CNW fan.
Goose 1
CSX 0
Goose poop problem may soon go away
Associated Press Sept. 2006
They tried chasing them away with border collies on golf courses in Illinois and Wisconsin. They tried a stuffed coyote in New Jersey. In fact, officials nationwide have tried just about everything to get rid of large flocks of Canada geese that move in, eat the grass and leave lots of unwanted poop.
Until now, geese foes have had to obtain permits from the government to kill the geese or destroy their nests and eggs, and that hasn't been easy. But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has issued a new rule making it easier for farmers, airports, landowners and public health officials to kill the geese without permits.
The new rule went into effect in early August.
Animal rights activists say there's got to be a better way to deal with the birds.
But people who consider the geese a nuisance are applauding the measure. Rep. Jim Saxton, R-N.J., who has been working to control the geese population for years, said, "This day has been a long time in coming."
"Canada geese are larger and more aggressive than native waterfowl," Saxton said. "They have upset the natural ecology of our waterways."
The new rule includes several provisions, which now allow:
The new rule also allows states to establish August hunting seasons for the birds. The existing hunting season is Sept. 1 to March 10.
The Fish and Wildlife Service said the rule was prompted in response to "growing impacts from overabundant populations of resident Canada geese." The agency said in the Atlantic Flyway, the resident Canada goose population has increased an average of 2 percent per year over the past four years and was estimated at 1.15 million this past spring.
"This final rule offers the essential flexibility needed for effective natural resource management," Service Director Dale Hall said in a statement.
John Hadidian, urban wildlife program director for The Humane Society of the United States, said the Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to bring down the resident Canada goose population by 1 million birds.
"That means killing that many birds every year, for the next 10 years," Hadidian said. "That's appalling."
The Humane Society says the reason so many would have to be killed to reduce the population is because on average, a goose will have five eggs at a time in a nest, which take about a month to incubate. And if a nest is destroyed, a female goose often will simply lay another group of eggs.
Hadidian said communities have resorted to various measures to get rid of the birds, ranging from sterilizing eggs or destroying nests to rounding up the birds when they are molting and unable to fly and taking them to commercial poultry houses where they are killed.
He said the new rule destroys any way for his organization and others to keep track of how the geese are being eliminated. The Humane Society favors measures that would create places where the birds can migrate to without being a nuisance to humans.
"They are very smart birds and they learn right away where they are and are not tolerated," Hadidian said.
The geese are attracted to mowed and fertilized grass, which is why they tend to gather at golf courses, airports and parks. Businesses or communities inundated by geese either call companies like National Goose Control in East Hanover, N.J., to help them gain permits so eggs and nests can be destroyed, or they resort to other measures.
In Saltville, Va., two border collies named Annie and Risk, were unleashed to run off the geese. That worked. In Fair Lawn, N.J., officials put a stuffed coyote on a float in a municipal pool hoping to scare off the geese. The coyote was snatched, and the geese stayed mum. (AP)
Richards claims his injuries were caused by the negligence of CSX.
I guess CSX failed to repair a hole in the cage that spans every inch of their trackage.
Seriously: kick his case out of court FAST and HARD and then fine him for waisting everybody's time.
those buggers can get mighty nasty to people, dogs, kids, etc. if you get even remotely close, and they are big enough to do some damage.
Hehehe, yep. Farmers around here used to have them roam the premises freely. They made a big racket when someone tried to sneak into the farm yard and were not affraid to go at 'em if they could get close enough. They were cheaper and more effective than having a big rotweiler guarding the home. And from experience I can tell you that you don't want to have a goose chewing away at your finger. It hurts... bad!
sanvtoman wrote:I guess he forgot to DUCK! He got hurt and he is now going to cry FOUL. The lawyers must have FLOCKED to his defense.
...and have filed this chickenXXXX lawsuit....but the amount they are asking for is just chicken feed...I just hope the railroad has it's Ducks in a Row for the defense...haven't heard anything this amusing since the days of featherbedding!
Even though this is a somewhat odd situation, I have wondered about encounters between trainmen and wildlife. For example, there are times when a train has to be walked in the middle of nowhere, with plenty of bears, wolves, and other animals around. Has this ever been an issue before?
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CShaveRR wrote: Geese probably love all railroad yards--we have plenty of them in ours. I've never seen one that didn't get out of the way when a locomotive (or employee) went in his direction, though.I feel sorry for the guy's injuries. He may have been too close to the goose's nest, or had cornered the bird. But to blame the railroad for what happened is preposterous. If the suit succeeds, all railroads are going to have to deal with the geese (how--post no-trespassing signs a little higher?). They were endangered once, and protected; I'm not sure that they still are. So, short of shooting them, what do you do? The environment around any given yard (spilled grain, vegetation, retention ponds) is great for geese.
Geese probably love all railroad yards--we have plenty of them in ours. I've never seen one that didn't get out of the way when a locomotive (or employee) went in his direction, though.
I feel sorry for the guy's injuries. He may have been too close to the goose's nest, or had cornered the bird. But to blame the railroad for what happened is preposterous. If the suit succeeds, all railroads are going to have to deal with the geese (how--post no-trespassing signs a little higher?). They were endangered once, and protected; I'm not sure that they still are. So, short of shooting them, what do you do? The environment around any given yard (spilled grain, vegetation, retention ponds) is great for geese.
Yes, and if the railroads will then need to deal with the goose population in the yards then the WWF (World Wildlife Federation, not the wrestling folks) will file suit to save the *** big birds...a never ending cycle. On a semi-related note, I can tell you we have lots of geese around a lake near our house and those buggers can get mighty nasty to people, dogs, kids, etc. if you get even remotely close, and they are big enough to do some damage.
A rail worker has to file these suits to recover lost time, railroads do NOT come under workmans comp.
Railroads are covered under FELA (Federal Employee Liability Act) and that is how system works, railroad will try to blame worker for injuries, worker will try to blame railroad for cause of injury.
Greed no, just the way it works.
The headline should have read:
Man fails to duck goose
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Carl
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sleeper33 wrote: LAUGHI NEARLY SPAT MY TEA ALL OVER THE COMPUTER. BUT ON A SERIOUS NOTE THE GENTLEMAN WAS INJURED DOING HIS JOB.Did CSX warn there employees about said goose?Gav
LAUGH
I NEARLY SPAT MY TEA ALL OVER THE COMPUTER. BUT ON A SERIOUS NOTE THE GENTLEMAN WAS INJURED DOING HIS JOB.Did CSX warn there employees about said goose?
Gav
He obviously didn't recieve the goose memo...
Please read the article and note his injuries...he fell down. And what is "loss of enjoyment of life"? My translation of this states that "I can't take a joke".
Next, he will be suing PETA about goose protection...
Phil
- Luke
Modeling the Southern Pacific in the 1960's-1980's
An "expensive model collector"
Only in America:
http://www.wvrecord.com/news/207858-employee-sues-csx-over-run-in-with-goose
http://dockets.justia.com/docket/court-wvsdce/case_no-3:2008cv00079/case_id-42514/
Dave
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