Don't shed a tear for the North Park geese.

The ubiquitous water fowl have been a public nuisance and a health hazard for at least 10 years. Parkgoers complain about the birds' widely scattered feces, and parents herd their children away from grassy spots polluted by the droppings. The first act of the day for some park workers had been to hose goose dung off park facilities; it was not unusual for them to bag 400 pounds of the birds' waste daily.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture agreed with Allegheny County officials that something had to be done. After a decade of trying to control the geese through nonlethal methods -- putting vegetable oil on their eggs, cutting grasses that support nesting areas, etc. -- the county decided it had to take more drastic action. The USDA concurred, and so the federal agency helped county workers round up 272 geese last week, about half of the birds counted in a recent census. The animals were transported to a euthanasia chamber and, according to a county spokesman, "gassed" with carbon dioxide until they died.

Park officials do not get up in the morning hoping to do such grim work, but neither do they want to watch helplessly while nature lovers increasingly abhor favorite picnic spots due to a health risk. In a perfect world, all God's creatures would live peaceably with each other in biological harmony. That has not been the scene at North Park Lake -- for a long time.

It's unfortunate the county had to take such action, but it had no choice. Now it can return its focus to nonlethal methods of animal control.