Of late, time has had to be diverted away from matters Rattlechain and everything else, including rescuing birds due to Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council’s clandestine cull of Canada geese.
No sooner were Rhodia supposedly trying to prevent any more birds being poisoned by white phosphorus, so SMBC were plotting to do away with several dozen from Victoria park Tipton, and Dartmouth Park West Bromwich. It has not gone unnoticed that these two events may well be related, if not directly then indirectly, as a result of the revelation that birds from Rattlechain could quite easily fly out having swallowed a sub- lethal amount of P4 and then die outside of the site. Perhaps this rattled a few at Sandwell Council, and they wanted rid. It would also have got rid of a few birds being found poisoned during the dredging phase of the 2013 works. Conspiracy theory- you decide?
A dead goose at Rattlechain lagoon and its pining mate. This goose was found to have ingested toxic white phosphorus in the sediment and been “systemically poisoned” by the chemical company waste.
In any case we continue to campaign for all wildfowl and so enlisted the help of “The park knight” aka Gooseman and submitted a petition to SMBC calling for scrutiny and also a “NEVER AGAIN”.
Gooseman was quite curious when he learned of the issues at Rattlechain, and so during a night flight decided to pay John’s Lane a visit. The dark Lane was deserted, but a ghostly figure was on hand to point him in the right direction. He would have been lost if not for one of the local one headed residents, not yet glowing in the dark.
He continued on dipping under the yellow barrier, no mean feat for a 7′ tall goose.
He observed the hazardous waste sign and the warnings about the dangers that the site posed, but unlike his fallen comrades he was able to read English.
The metal railings clanked in the night wind, as above the razor wire encampment warned of “DANGER”.
I’m not going in there thought Gooseman. He said a little prayer and lit a candle to remember those that had died. He also noted the company responsible for the massacre of wildlife at the site. They accepted “NO RESPONSIBILITY” for trespassers, including birds like himself.
