Canada geese soar through the sky along with a jet. Sumlin/AP
As President Obama takes heat from insect-rights activists for swatting a fly during an interview, Mayor Bloomberg says he can sympathize.
"I had pickets outside my house for geese last night," Bloomberg said of protesters angry that the city is gathering up to 2,000 geese near airports and gassing them.
"We are sending some of these geese for a well-deserved rest up in the sky, wherever geese go," Bloomberg said. "They're a danger to human beings flying, and we're doing what's appropriate."
The city announced the "removal" of the geese after migrating birds stopped both engines on US Airways Flight 1549, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing on the Hudson River.
Wildlife experts told the city that killing was the only effective way to control the problem.
As for Obama, Bloomberg says the President is a hero.
"I'm sure what the President thought about was that particular fly might be spreading something like the H1N1 flu, and he was going to risk his own life with his hands - bare hands - without Purell, and he protected the public by hitting that fly and we owe him a great debt of gratitude," Bloomberg said.
