Magpie Geese

While writing a story about Australian magpie geese recently, I was reminded of once a few years ago when a rural neighbor of mine couldnt get a Permit to shoot magpie geese. He claimed they were eating the grass he needed for his cattle. So he purchased a gas powered cannon and placed it at the edge of the lake. This cannon went of at irregular intervals (day and night, to the chagrin of the neighbors) to frighten the magpie geese away.

Within a couple of weeks the geese were perching on the cannon, not the least bit afraid of the noise. Then we received some heavy rain, the lake came up and covered the gas-powered cannon, the lake water got into the works, and it blew itself up. Very sad, but the neighbors had a barbeque to celebrate. *Pat OBrien