Let’s
talk about the Canada Goose, shall we?
It’s
been quite a summer for them around these parts. Let me tell you about it.
The
spring started in the usual way, with beautiful strings of honking “V”s
criss-crossing the sky. My own first sighting was actually in the middle of a
work day. I was toiling away, doing the usual, when a nearby co-worker suddenly
commented:
“Oh,
that’s nice. The geese are back.”
Nearly
as soon as she said that I could hear the tell-tale honk, honk, honking from
above, somewhere. I peered out the nearest window just in time to see three or
four of them flap past just above me. How sweet!
As
I left, that day, I heard an odd, low, guttural sound behind and above me. I
turned around and glanced up in time to see two big, beautiful geese sitting on
the roof top looking down on me. In another moment they suddenly leapt off and
swooped past so low I could almost have tickled their bellies! (If I’d had a
really tall step ladder.)
It
wasn’t too much longer that, at two separate lakes, I was happily fortunate
enough to encounter some families, usually with at least two adults and scads
and scads of fuzzy little goslings. I looked it up later and discovered that
it’s not uncommon for two or more families to get together and help look after
one another’s broods. Here’s a photo of one particularly large family. They’re
notoriously hard to count when they keep moving around all the time, but I’m
sure there were some forty odd in this bunch. Such a big brood that not all of
them could even fit within the frame!
Now,
in spite of the fact that the two adult geese were, no doubt, sisters or, at
least, girlfriends, did you know that each must have had a husband somewhere
nearby? Canada Geese are lifetime monogamous maters. Isn’t that something? The
only thing that will convince them to leave each other’s sides is death.
Otherwise, once they choose a mate, that’s it.
A
lake is a terrific place to observe goose behavior. Okay, so 90% of that
behavior involves paddling about and - - um - - more paddling about. It’s the
other 10% that you might want to watch for. Here’s a little footage I took of a
guy that you might take to be the lake bully. He’d just chased another goose
across the water, when he leapt up on shore near where I was standing. Watch
what he did!
Geese
can be a little territorial, especially where their eggs and, later, chicks are
concerned. However this guy didn’t appear to have either, but if he was a male,
his wife and chicks may have been nearby. Also, geese can get a bit protective
of real estate that they believe to be their own. It’s hard to know what was on
this guy’s mind. However, it’s kind of hard to blame them for being a bit
defensive. There are actually “official bodies” that will actually go out to
bodies of water and seek out nests. When they find one that’s unguarded,
they’ll either spray or shake the eggs to prevent them from hatching. They
claim this is the “humane” approach to goose population control which, they say
is necessary as some feel there are too many geese around and they are becoming
a “nuisance”. I tend to cringe. After all, who’s to say how many geese
constitute “just enough”? Let Mother Nature take care of her own.
But
perhaps the geese have had a good reason to be a bit grumpy this year. With so
much drought-like weather in so many places, their patience has been greatly
tried. I visited another lake where the geese are always in abundance in the
summer months. Often birds can be easily seen and photographed in and among the
shoreline reeds where are sunk deep in water. This year, though, the lake was
so low that the water didn’t even reach the reeds in lots of places. Here’s an
image of one forlorn looking flock wading around in the muck and mud that used
to be the shallows.
Once
we even happened upon one little goose standing on a patch of grass in the
parking lot of a mall seemingly watching people go by. Was he hoping for a
nibble or a scrap? After all, one can guess the dry weather must have adversely
affected lakes and ponds all over the place, this year. He wasn’t timid in the
least. He was quite comfortable with all the people around him. In fact, he
actually walked up to one person and started pecking at her toes! That’s what
made us think the poor little guy was looking for a snack.
A
few days ago, I made another visit to a local pond. I thought they’d have all
gone, by now, and I’d be looking at a nice, quiet, empty little spot of water.
Instead, some thirty geese relaxed and nibbled on the grassy slope by the lake.
They even let me walk right past them and take a shot or two. Here they are,
relaxing among the reeds before they take off, again, for the long flight to
their wintering places.
So
our geese are all packed up and on their way, leaving us to wait anxiously for
their return when, no doubt, they’ll give us more stories to tell. Meanwhile,
I, for one, am very grateful to be in a place that I can share with such a
wonderful and beautiful creature!
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