URGENT!!!!!!!! EVERYONE PLEASE CALL THE MEMBERS OF THE GENOA TOWNSHIP BOARD AND TELL THEM WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS WRONG.
KILLING MUTE SWANS IS WRONG and CRUEL AND THEY SHOULD RE-THINK THEIR RESOLUTION.
If you live in the Township, threaten to vote them off the Board next time. If you do not live there, threaten to tell all your friends and family never to move to a place where they like to kill their wildlife. Tell them that it is a privilege to live on a lake, and just because you do, does not give you the right to kill a living creature because you do not like it. You may live near the water, but you do not own it. There are many others on the lake who enjoy the swans on the lake and they have just as much right to watch and enjoy them, as others do to run them down with their jet skis, more so , since running them down with a jet ski is ILLEGAL.
The DNR is making a lot of money telling people these birds are the demon bird . These Township Board members have probably never asked them for their Michigan based studies, or the Environmental Impact Study that proves their claims, or probably never questioned the DNR for proof that the Mute Swans are not native here or the proof that the Trumpeters are. They do not have any of this. Request a FOIA and you will be charged anywhere from $900 to $4800 to receive the information. Request to see their email conversations with the Maryland DNR and others, and you will get at least another $900+ fee. They use Maryland based studies. Maryland has not one natural lake. They slaughtered all their Mute Swans on the Chesapeake Bay because they said they were eating all the vegetation. The Bay is no better off today with the swans gone. Humans are the cause of all the problems with the Bay, the Mute Swans were the scapegoats. In the 2020 State of the Bay Report , the Bay gets a D+.
People on jet skis need to be more considerate to the people and animals on the lake. Would you want a jet ski running down your child while they were swimming in the lake ? Well what makes you think a swan would want that. When someone terrorizes a swan on a jet ski or boat, a swan is not going to decipher between a good jet ski or bad jet ski. Why don't humans understand this? They are protecting themselves and their family, as any human should and would do.
No one has ever been killed by a Mute Swan. If you bring up the Kayaker in Illinois, you are sadly mistaken, and should do your research and ask questions. The guy went out in his kayak in the winter to chase geese off a lake, wearing heavy clothing and boots , with no life jacket on,. His kayak capsized. He was not that far from shore, but decided he didn't want to walk around the lake all wet, so he tried to swim across the lake. he took clothes off as he went, but did not make it to shore. He was never touched by a swan at any time. He signed a waiver with the company he worked for, saying if anything would happen, and he was not wearing a life vest, he would be terminated on the spot. His life vest was in the kayak, but he chose not to wear it.
PLEASE CONTACT THE GENOA TOWNSHIP BOARD AND TELL THEM THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS THAN TO KILL THE MUTE SWANS!
Maybe some lake etiquette classes would help. People, who harass the wildlife, are supposed to be fined and should get jail time, but the DNR makes it almost impossible for that to happen. So, unless you have video of the incident and the serial number of the boat, they will tell you they can't do anything because they didn't see it happen. Basically, you have to do all the work for them. They hardly ever investigate these cases. When they do, it is usually days later. They say they don't have the manpower. BUT THEY DO HAVE THE MANPOWER TO GO OUT AND KILL THE SWANS.
Tell the Board In Defense of Animals and other groups are willing to work with them on aggressive swan issues and to reach out for help and not kill these birds. DO THE RIGHT THING AND DO NOT KILL THESE SWANS!
The link to the swan killers is below....PEOPLE FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD complained to the West Bloomfield Board years ago, and they reversed their decision. This can be done, but people need to call, write or e-mail them.
Township Supervisor Bill Rogers – bill@genoa.org
robin@genoa.org - Treasurer Robin Hunt polly@genoa.org - Polly Skolarus (810) 227-5225 - Township Phone number mike@genoa.org - (810) 227-5225 - Township Manager- MIke Archinal Jim Mortensen- Board MemberPhone: 810 227 5225 x502 (Daytime)- Email: jim@genoa.org
Diana Lowe - Board member Phone: 810-227-5225 -
Email: diana@genoa.org
There are other Board members I am assumimg their e-mails are their first name @ genoa.org, but they are not listed. Bombard the others, they will hear about it.
THANK YOU ...LETS SAVE SOME SWANS - Could you possibly e-mail me and let me know that you did contact them, so I can update IDA - In Defense of Animals of our progress helpourwaterfowl@gmail.com