A Goose Story

Our geese are our main source of entertainment. If any of you have ever had African geese you would know what I am talking about. Out of all the geese breeds they are the best. Not aggressive, very social and trainable. Loud, yes and messy to. We live on well fertilize ground.

 

It all started with a neighbor that had two geese his daughter had gotten from the wildlife rescue center. They are domestic so they had to find a home for them. We said we would take them. Their names were Maude and Gracie. Gracie died a year after we got them. Old age most likely. We had also taken a male runner duck from the neighbor because he was to rough on his chickens. After all Maude and Gracie were twice his size so he could not do to much damage to them.

 

So after Gracie died it was Maude and Donald (the duck). Donald disappeared one day (coyote) most likely. The neighbor said he had a male African Goose that needed a mate and a home because his female died. He was pretty young so we brought him home.

 

When the neighbor and the C.O. carried him down the stairs he started honking and flapping his wing to get to Maude quicker. Of course Maude played the coy one. She would turn her back from him and act like she was maybe interest but needed to be convinced. Daunte cooed her for three day's until she finally gave in. Like she had a choice in the matter.

 

I will never forget the first year they were together. Maude was so happy and in charge. She laid on a nest and we anxiously anticipated the new arrivals. One morning I woke to some serious squawking. I looked down to the pen where the nest was. There was daunte standing in front of Maude on the nest with a dead gosling. They both kept nudging it to get up.  I think they were mourning the death of the little one. 

 

They ended up with 6 goslings. Three males three females. Maude stayed on the nest in hopes that more of the eggs would hatch so Daunte took charge of the ones already hatched. He took them to the pond showed them around. Mostly he would stay in the pen with Maude and keep the little ones in line. Boy did he freak out when they would slip through the fence and he could not get to them. We would go out and recue them. I don't think the little one thought they needed rescuing but Daunte did. He was a proud papa.

 

Finally, after a week it was almost like he said to Maude. Look woman, you got to get off the nest and help me here. So she did.

 

 

Goose story continued.

They had three females and three males. It was perfect. I know, brothers and sisters and all that stuff.  I do not think animals care about that mess. We had no plans of having any more goslings.

The female’s names are Gracie (named after the first Gracie) Midge (because she was the runt of the batch) and Eunice.

The three males are called Larry, Moe, and curly. I am sure you know where that came from.  Of course, Daunte is not one of the stooges but the C.O, said, “Dante Culpepper is kind of a stooge.” He was the quarter back for the Vikings at the time and was going down the tubes.  

Now, when Maude was still with Donald (the duck) they would go down the road to the ponds at the neighbors. It was just down the road about a ¼ mile and they would come back after about an hour so we did not get concerned.  After Donald disappeared, Maude did not go down there anymore.

The spring after we got Daunte the two of them would go down to the other ponds and stay for an hour or two. I do not know why geese feel the need to go elsewhere in the spring. I have asked them on several occasions. I get no real answer just bwaaap.  So, needless to say, they took the goslings down to the ponds when they were big enough.

They would wonder down the road and the neighbors would drive by. Some of them would stop and talk to them and ask them how their day was going. I worried that by them being on the road it would irritate the neighbors. In talking to the neighbors on my daily walks, I found that everyone just loved them. Sometimes I would find the geese just sitting on the side of the road kicking back. They were living the life.

Geese have a communal nest. They all lay their eggs in the same nest. Why not? In my observation, they are all one.  Everyone has to be together, all the time. Everyone has to agree before they can move forward.   If they are in the pond and someone wants to move up to the yard there is a big noisy long discussion about this before anything can happen.  Oh sure someone may start up the hill in an attempt to get the others to follow, but if it is not agreed upon by all it’s not going to happen. With that in mind, also if someone has to lay an egg the rest of them are all standing around waiting very impatiently?
 

Moe

Moe, you are beautiful as beautiful as an African goose can be. Walking through the poultry barn at the state fair all the blue ribbon African Geese could not hold a candle to you.  In addition, looking at pictures of what a true African Goose is to look like is just like looking at you Moe. Standing tall with so much pride about you is a pleasure to watch. Your grace and beauty radiates about you. You are awesome!

After the goslings became adult, I think Daunte got tired of being in charge of the gaggle. He put Moe in charge, there was no fight no struggle for power. Moe took that to heart. He watches over the gaggle with pride. Neither a squirrel nor a chipmunk will infiltrate our space.  Havens forbid a crow land in the middle of the gaggle, as the rest lie sleeping.  All will be safe as long as I am in charge. Sleep, who needs it when the safety of the gaggle it at hand

Usually there are many fights between the males, especially in the spring. Most days we just ignore the fights. They are usually just something trivial like someone stepped on the others foot or looked at the other the wrong way. Pretty much, like children. Some are more violent and there is blood, not anything life threatening but can be cause for concern.  The C.O or I will intervene and send them to their corners for a time out.

Usually within an hour, everyone is back to normal and the fight forgotten. Life now is returned to the same old same old, should we go down to the pond or try to sneak up to the front yard. There is always one lagging behind as the scout. It is usually Midge, sounding a warning when one of us is spotted looking for them. ARRRRAACk.  As if, we cannot hear or see her.  All of a sudden, you will hear squawk, squawk, and squawk as they come around the garage one by one; acting like nothing is going on.  No, not us, we were not in the front yard.

Sometime when they are out in the field or in the back of the pond and we cannot see them. All we have to do is yell, WHAT. They will then give themselves away.  For some reason the word WHAT means something to them and they have to answer us back. SQUAWK!!! For every WHAT.

Sometime we go out and get them and sometimes we just say, “Get back here right now”. After a long discussion, they usually return in 20 minutes.

 

Midge and Larry        

Now Midge and Larry decided to be a couple. I think because they were the smallest of the group or they just liked each other. When you are a female goose, your mate is your choice. If she will not have you, then there is no mating.

Unlike ducks, the C.O. calls them the F---ing ducks. It does not matter whose mate you are. They pair off and form alliances.  Just like monkeys.  All day and night, the party (f---ing) goes on. Ducks are not very bright. I did purchase Peking ducks this year because they are more similar to Geese. So far, this has held true.  Actually, our geese adopted the baby ducks. The other ducks we have want nothing to do with the baby ducks.  You would have thought so. Just an example of why geese are better than ducks.

Geese are a community centered animal. They take care of themselves and other animals.  After a Great White Owl took out a group of ducks, the geese took in the lone survivor. He still hangs with them over the other ducks.  His name is Mr. Ducky.

As I said, the nest is communal. One day they were down the road at the neighbor’s pond. Midge had an urgent need to lay an egg. You could hear the sound GWArrrrak coming from the distance and getting louder.   We saw her come up from the path running to the nest. About a half hour later when she was done, she was lost and had no idea where the rest were. Where are you guy’s she probable yelled? GWArrrrrak, GWArrrrrk.

Soon Larry showed up from the path. I was obvious he had run the whole way. He walked over to Midge and they walked back down the path to where the others were.

That was the first time and the last time Larry came to recue Midge. I think he told her to find her own self-back to the pond. He was not going to be running back every time she laid an egg. Isn’t that just like a man?