Facebook post about slaughtered geese on 401 sparks social media debate

A Windsor man's social media post about a family of geese crushed by a vehicle on Highway 401 has sparked an online debate about what drivers should do when they encounter wildlife on the road.

• Jack Miner geese leg bands targeted in hit-and-run incidents

• Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary says speeders killing geese

Seonac McIlvride was driving near Dougall Parkway when he found 10 dead geese spread out along the highway. He took pictures of the carnage and shared it on Facebook, calling whoever killed the birds a "real piece of work."

"I understand it's a high speed area but geese don't move very fast," he wrote. "You should be able to see them from half a mile down the road."

McIlvride's post has been shared more than 3,000 times since it was published Sunday, and has attracted more than 470 comments.

Opinions in the discussion below the gruesome pictures are divided between those who believe the birds may have been hit on purpose and others who argue it's safer to hit an animal than swerving and endangering a human life.

Geese waddle slowly across roads

Mary Baruth, executive director of the Jack Miner Migratory Bird Foundation, said she's never heard of 10 geese being killed by a vehicle in one instance — even at the height of problems with speeders outside the bird sanctuary the death toll never got that high.

"The problem with people hitting birds on the road is that they don't move very fast … they waddle," she said. "The number makes you wonder if it was deliberate."

Baruth said geese don't fly in front of vehicles unless they're chased and added they don't run in front of cars like squirrels. She suspects the geese were crossing the highway with goslings, making them less likely to fly even as traffic barreled towards them.

"For all they know, whoever hit them wiped out their entire family and a generation," she said. "Whoever hit them will have damage to the front end of their car."

The bird conservationist said she doesn't recommend drivers slam on the brakes to avoid hitting an animal as it could endanger others on the road, but pleaded with people behind the wheel to avoid distractions.

Whenever possible, she suggests safely stopping to allow birds to cross.

"It delays them by a few minutes," she said. "But at the end of the day the geese are surviving and people feel good."