It has come to the attention of Your Scribe that hunting season on Canada geese begins Oct. 1. I don't understand hunting but this fall I've wondered if golfers shouldn't be given a bag limit as well.

For years Canada geese have fouled up courses throughout New England with their remarkable ability to defacate. Golfers throughout the region have cursed them for years, yet now hunters will be able to shoot the semi-domesticated bird with greater license.

They say the geese are relucant to fly back to Canada because life is so good on the proverbial 19th hole. That reminds me of a problem that pond tenders of Colby College have had over the years with (once) migratory birds.

They'd eat like swine all spring and summer, and couldn't fly back to the old country because they were too fat. Signs marked the Colby ponds: "Do not feed the ducks - they won't be able to fly."

The bag limit on these geese is close to a half-dozen, I believe. I wonder if that will be a challenge, since most of us drive by the birds all the time and they do not fly off in fear. They hardly look up.

Here are a couple factoids that I did not know:

Coyotes, red squirrel and porcupine have no closed season; raccon, skunk and opossum season goes from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31.

Fox season runs from Oct. 15 to Feb. 28. Deer season, of course, starts Oct. 29.

Hunting for wild turkey has been expanded this year. It had been primarily an archery endeavor but now that they are expanding in numbers, a shotgun season will open in mid-October.

I guess that proves I don't understand the sport. Now that turkeys are coming back, permits are given for more efficient methods of "harvesting" them.

E-mail this entry to a friend