To the editor:

In regard to the recent announcement of the waterfowl hunting season (“It’s waterfowl hunting season,” Jan. 4, 2024), I’d like to remind my fellow citizens that the numbers of ducks and geese that visit our shores and ponds today are likely much smaller than those that greeted the first European settlers of this area.

They are still a source of wonder and beauty to many of us for whom they are living symbols of the rich natural resources with which Narragansett Bay is graced. Their diverse lifestyles and physical features are fascinating to watch. And I would like to remind people that the pairs of these birds that we see often mate for life, especially so among geese. Killing one of their mates can have long-lasting consequences.

For these reasons, it is difficult for me to see a reason to celebrate the arrival of the open season for killing these beautiful birds and I would urge everyone to find other ways to appreciate these wonderful members of our environment than as an opportunity to destroy them.

Peter Dorfman
42 High St.