The worker said the problem was happening at a golf course, where Canada geese had become part of the daily scene. Anyone who has spent time around golf courses knows geese can be messy, aggressive, and frustrating. They leave droppings on greens, crowd ponds, and can make themselves very unwelcome.
But according to the Reddit post, the concern was not just that the owners disliked the geese. The worker believed the owners’ family may have been shooting them.
The original Reddit post can be found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/legaladvice/comments/6m8w30/golf_course_owner_and_their_gun_loving_family/
That changed the issue from a nuisance wildlife problem into a legal and ethical one. Canada geese are not just random pests that anyone can shoot whenever they become annoying. Depending on the location and circumstances, they can be protected under state and federal wildlife laws. There are legal ways to manage problem geese, but they usually involve permits, specific methods, or approved nuisance wildlife control.
The worker seemed worried because the people involved were connected to the golf course ownership. That can make reporting harder. If a regular customer or stranger is shooting wildlife, the path is more obvious: call the proper agency and report it. If it may be the owner’s family doing it on the property where you work, there is a workplace pressure added on top.
There was also the firearm safety side. A golf course is not open backcountry. It has workers, golfers, maintenance crews, nearby homes in some areas, carts, parking lots, ponds, and buildings. Even if someone thinks they are only shooting geese, there are still questions about where the shots are going, who else is nearby, and whether it is legal to discharge a firearm there.
The worker did not appear to be trying to protect geese at all costs or ignore the problems they can cause. The concern was that the owners’ family might be handling the nuisance in a way that could violate wildlife rules and put the business or employees in a bad position.
That is where a game warden or wildlife agency becomes important. They can explain whether the geese are protected, whether the golf course has any permit, and what legal options exist for nuisance control. They can also handle the enforcement side without the worker having to argue directly with the owners’ family.
Commenters told the worker to contact the proper wildlife authorities rather than trying to solve it through workplace gossip or direct confrontation. Several pointed out that Canada geese are often protected, and nuisance removal usually has rules attached.
Others suggested documenting what the worker actually saw or heard. Dates, times, locations, who was involved, whether shots were fired, and whether dead geese were found could all matter. A vague suspicion may not be enough, but a pattern with details could give wildlife officers something to investigate.
Some commenters warned the worker to be careful at work. If the owners or their relatives were involved, accusing them directly could risk retaliation or job trouble. Going through an outside wildlife agency would be cleaner and safer.
A few people noted that golf courses can sometimes get permits or use approved methods to manage geese, but that does not mean anyone can simply shoot them whenever they want. The difference between legal nuisance control and illegal killing would come down to permits, timing, methods, and local rules.
The post ended with the worker stuck between two realities. The geese may have been a real problem for the course, but if the owners’ family was shooting protected birds without proper authority, the fix could become a bigger legal problem than the mess on the greens.
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