Avian

Silly Goose

A pair of Canada Geese and their goslings

Good morning. Southwest airlines has been emailing me almost every day with offers. This mornings email was offering rewards for all days ending in “y”. Now I assume that includes Blurrsday.  We had thunder, lightning and rain throughout the night and into this morning. Anyway, I want to rant about the geese….

I find the Canada Goose are interesting to watch. This morning I had a few thoughts I wanted to share with you. First they seem to have no real cares in life except for keeping an eye out for any natural predator, knowing where they are in the food chain. Political issues, the COVID virus, taxes, work stuff are just not a part of their life. They do not seem to be possessive of property but will defend a nesting female within about 10-20 feet of the nest until the young are hatched then it’s back to open land. The gander will fight to protect the female, defend the nest and the young. However, their fighting does not have the intention to kill. Or at least that’s what I’ve observed.

Once the goslings are hatched the gander is much more relaxed. I watch them saunter across the parking lot oblivious to the cars. They are in no hurry today because they have no appointments to meet and no work schedule to meet (actually sounds pretty good.) Nor do they follow our traffic/pedestrian rules at all. They are oblivious to the irate honking driver who thinks they’re going to be late to a job they do not like. I’ve even watched them staring down drivers! I’ve also watched them drink the standing water after a rain, unaware it is contaminated with gas, oil, antifreeze, brake fluid, hydraulic fluids and chemicals used on our lawns. Silly geese.

A pile of hail at the drain spout from this morning

Everything smells fresh and clean.

Retired. Having fun shooting Fujifilm cameras. Journal daily. Meditate daily. Learning haiku. Have a love for fountain pens.

6 Comments

  • Earl

    A note: I personally watch a Canadian Goose back down a fully grown 2200+lb Angus Bull once. Totally had his number and that bull was looking for a fight. That’s when I made a life note which has always worked well for me…Leave Canadian Geese alone! 🙂

  • Tom Dills

    Fun post and great story! Kathy and I have similar conversations about the squirrels that try to get seed from our squirrel proof bird feeder or scavenge seed from under it. She asks “why do they bother?” And I answer that “they have nothing else to do!”

    Geese can be quite a nuisance but they’re also fun to watch!

    • Monte Stevens

      Yes, on the squirrels as I watch them also. I watched one pull off a plastic bag from a bicycle seat stuffing it in their mouth. That was so confusing to me until they went up the tree and into the nest.

      Yes, the geese are a nuisance and make a heck of a mess. They use their bills to pull up grass while dumping it out the back at the same time. I call walking to check my mail, the goose poop boogie.