Once upon a time i jogged by two large geese with about 12 tiny geese bouncing along behind them. The two adult geese seemed happy and proud as they seemed to be setting up temporary home near the large stream. I felt connected to them all and yelled out..."Congratulations!" Seeing the little geese bouncing along behind them made me feel happy, connected, one with them and that all was right with the world. I jogged passed them every day to say hello, but after every few days, there seemed to be another one missing, which made me feel sad. I talked to them and said..."Oh, I am so sorry. What was it a fox or a snapping turtle?.... you are trying so hard to keep them all safe." They seemed to understand my emotions for them, as i felt that the losses were also happening to me......I was one with this family of geese, so in a sense, the loss happened to me, too. Now there are the two adult geese left with one youngster left, who is getting bigger now...... I check every day to see that that one is still alive, but along with that, comes my sadness for them and remembering the day I saw the two adults and 12 little ones.....as 11 of the baby geese had met some tragic ending, I knew. The adults seem sadder, but are still very protective of the one that is left and trying to do their best to see that one into adulthood..... nature is indifferent. She is neither cruel or good. I am angry with the foxes or snapping turtles and do not feel one with them at this time, but i do not wish them any harm either.....I just feel the connected sadness to the geese and every day i still hold my breath while approaching the creek to make sure the one soul survivor is still ok....and am relieved that it is..... (This is a true story)
We had geese for awhile, two white Emdens, a male and female we raised from goslings. We named them George and Gracie after George Burns and Gracie Allen. Then one day we went on a vacation and left my brother in charge of the house. I had build a pen for them in the top of the barn so the raccoons couldn't get them at night. He herded them into the barn though a top door that the coons couldn't get in, but I had forgotten that coons can climb ladders. The poor geese were trapped in the cage and the coons went over the top to get Gracie. She was found in the morning. Then George went into a funk so we went to a local bunch of hillbillies to buy a mate for him. They chased down a grey female Toulouse and put her in a burlap sack with just her head sticking out and my wife placed her on her lap as we drove home. That was nasty as the goose kept biting her and expended green slim all over her lap. We named her Bella La Goosey. Turned out it was a male. In the summer we just let them out at night as they could take to the pond for protection. In the winter we'd herd them into the garage each night. They would chase wild geese away, but every now and then let a brood of them stay. We loved watching them swim in the pond, they'd dive underwater and pop up somewhere else. George would chase my wife.
George and Gracie are such cute names....but so sad with what happened to Gracie....and nice you tried to get George a new mate. I try to do that too. I never want anyone here to feel all alone. I went to get a mate parakeet for Sunshine here, and was told, ...ok, here is a female for him..Turns out he is a male, too....we named Sweetie Pea...but that is ok...both birds seem to get along fine. The gosling is still there. I have to stop all of the time going by there to make sure I can spot the gosling, and then I see a brown furry thing pop up near the two adults, and. I am always so happy to still see that....and will be heartbroken if anything happens to the one left. These are wild Canadian geese, .......Today they saw me coming and walked the same way I was going for a bit from their respectful distance.....of course....and i talked to them the whole time. they seem to like that. Now, I think there is a family of wild turkeys on the property here, and they can have refuge here for however long they need. I hear them every time I go out the door, but have not looked for them. I want to leave them alone and make them feel safe and that no one here will bother them. I hope the coyotes leave them alone, too.
Yeah, my brother in law had a male canary for years...then one day it laid an egg! My wife and I miss our geese. We had some ducks too...they were a pain in the butt because they never stopped quacking. Quack quack quack all day long. They disappeared one at a time, they were too stupid to stay in the pond at night. We figured coyotes or bobcats got them. Our emden goose was nasty once he grew up. When little he would swim up to me and lay on my stomach when I'd float in the pond on a air mattress. But when he grew up he'd charge my wife and she'd have to grab him by the neck and throw him. Then he'd charge again and I'd have to rescue her. Such fun!
I did not see two adult geese with gosling today. I saw about 10 adult geese on the grasslands near where the three were every day. Now, did the remainder baby meet its end and the other geese came around and folded in the two adults into their group? maybe. I will keep looking every day for a few days more, but I don';t like the writing on the wall.
I was happy to see all 3 geese there again today. Whew....and I am glad I decided not to get too upset yesterday and wait a few days.....and I was so happy to see them...I talked to them for about 5 minutes from the bridge.... YAY! so far so good...I have my fingers crossed every day for that youngster to grow up.
i meant to reply much sooner, so this wont have the same effect now in smartass form, so I will just say... well, if youve seen my gallery (like the one real pic i have inthere) it shows how we have geese here too. Yeah, yeah, real cute until you get too close to the parents of some baby goslings. idk how you got so close, but I was just trying to pass them on the walkway one day andthe adults started hissing and damn near pecking at me! It was a bit scary because i couldnt get any farther away while still passing (and I had to pass). eek! And geese, their other charming trait-leaving their poop mines all about. But alas, they are still cute and calming to watch swimming through the water or when they are trying to cross the road. ok, well, i guess that did get a bit "smart"
Oh, you didn't know. That is another thing I do quite well....I can talk to animals.... I see them every day and before they gave birth....same tribe, and for some reason they trust me. Today, some mother had her little girl out there taking photos of her little girl at the bridge, and I heard her say..."Ok, smile like a pretty girl now, and then you can go chase the geese like your usual tomboy self" I was so annoyed. I wanted to say.."Don't chase them!"....but did not , of course....but when I came back to go past the geese again, they had moved a good distance. i know they had been chased and i apologized to them for their upset......The baby is bigger now...looks like a teenaged goose now. Red fox was spotted in their vicinity last week, and I knew it,. Fox does not look malnourished at all. he got all of the other babies....
No I am usually very careful, but idk. Maybe it was a bad day for them. This year they didnt get bothered, but i didnt get that close either. My parents one cat is very skiddish with everyone. Took us a few visits, but he is now finally warming up to me. The other is totally my buddy, btw. Anyway, what? did someone say cats?? (no? oops. but I am a CAT whisperer )
I forgot to mention last night that the little girl yesterday was 10-12....I would not have felt AS annoyed had she been 5 or something.....I knew that the girl was going to be able to really run to disturb the geese.
eh! delayed again. yeah, that just sounds like bad parenting to me. I mean, who encourages that shit! geez! I haven't gotten to go to the lake in awhile. Haven't seen any geese since early spring. It's funny too, sometimes they'll just start walking the neighborhood. Ok, well, that was just one time maybe. hehe That's fun!
I don't know.....Teenager goose that I saw growing up seemed to have vanished...and only big adult geese were there for awhile. It has been quite awhile since I have seen any geese there now. In years past, I would see families of geese walking with tiny little ones following all over the place into adulthood... This year, I only saw this family.....and I see fox there every day now all over the park...and i never saw this many fox in daylight public eye before. Someone told me that two other people had cats go missing in this town this season....and that there is a bobcat roaming around also. oh, and one lady I talk to, said her hair cutter person was telling her.....she was sitting outside on her porch watching her two cats playing in the yard, and a coyote came along and took one of her cats right in front of her....
Hmm. Well, it is still quite possible he or she just grew up and mov3d on, no?? I dunno. I'm not aware of geese behavior, but maybe it moved on and made a new family. ?? Wishful thinking??
Were we lived the EPA dudes would walk down the dirt road checking the stream that paralleled it for mine run off and fracking shit. Some of the water haulers were dumping into the streams... This one big burly dude came walking down the road and was afraid to go past the geese. They had the road blockaded and were honking up a storm. So my wife had to go out a rescue him.
