Dead Snow Geese

[Pauli Driver-Smith]

Someone reported on Nextdoor that they saw a number of dead snow geese laying off the side of Weld County Road 7, just north of County Road 38, north of Mead. They were assuming that hunters had shot them and then dumped them. I read it too late to go investigate. I will tomorrow. My suspicions is more on the idea of avian flu. Apparently they were laying with their wings spread out. 

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[Pauli Driver-Smith]

Apparently, there are a large number of them along the side of the road, not just a handful. I ended not going to check this out because I couldn't get away, but from the sounds of the ongoing discussion on Nextdoor,  CPW has been notified.  The discussion is about divided in half as to the case, hunters or Avian flu.

Reportedly, two Bald Eagles, dead from Avian Flu were picked up at Macintosh Lake in Longmont over the weekend. I haven't seen anything here on Highland Lake, in Weld County, near Mead, but there are a lot of geese coming and going right now.

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From: Chip Dawes <chip...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, January 5, 2026 12:53 PM
To: Pauli Driver-Smith <hollyho...@msn.com>
Subject: Re: [cobirds] Dead Snow Geese

 

I agree with the Avian Flu suspicion.  I expect the hunter theory is from a non-hunter.  I am a hunter and have a hard time imagining why someone would go to the hassle of locating and successfully bagging geese only to dump them on the side of a road.  If someone just wants to blow holes in something flying, they go to the range and blast away at clay pigeons (skeet) which is far cheaper and carries no risk of a game warden issuing a citation.

But people come in all varieties and slob hunters do make some bad choices.

If you do investigate and find the cause of death, please share it.  Avian Flu has taken quite the toll on our feathered friends.

Chip Dawes 

On Mon, Jan 5, 2026 at 5:51 AM Pauli Driver-Smith <hollyho...@msn.com> wrote:

Someone reported on Nextdoor that they saw a number of dead snow geese laying off the side of Weld County Road 7, just north of County Road 38, north of Mead. They were assuming that hunters had shot them and then dumped them. I read it too late to go investigate. I will tomorrow. My suspicions is more on the idea of avian flu. Apparently they were laying with their wings spread out. 

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