The lone goose

When I returned from Florida in April, I noticed a white domestic goose was socializing with the Canada geese. Domestic geese cannot fly. We have had two of them occupy an island over the last ten years, and eventually they disappear.

My daughter has a friend who moved in a mile down the road. It is a small world to run into a school friend of my daughter in a small town rural area fifty miles from where they went to school, but on facebook Mrs. Seaoat had talked about the goose taking over one island and being aggressive and territorial honking and coming up to people who were friends fishing.

The girl was part of a local wildlife rescue group and last night they captured the goose and took it to their wildlife barn with other waterfowl where they try to place the animals with people. I never knew that a domestic goose with clipped wings was not going to survive the winter in the wild. It was nice to see these folks trying to help animals and they even had two kayakers off the river pitch in and help. Now the group is asking Mrs. Seaoat to name the goose. I guess all their rescued animals are given names, so she is thinking about what to name the goose, and one more story to tell the grandchildren.

The goose is in its new adoptive home. Apparently, he is a hit with the other ducks and geese. There is a female who likes him. Those Canada Geese were able to fly and now he is in a fenced in pen which keeps predators away.

Has Mrs. Sea named the goose yet?

I think she has suggested "foxley". It is near a point on an island which in the 1850s a man named Foxley ran the ferry for pioneers going west. The goose was hanging around that point, yapping at folks in the river and on the islands. These animal rescue folks have my utmost respect....they really work on adoptions and care of animals at risk.

I too have a goose story:

Around 1985 I had been in my new house at LC for a couple years and had what I thought would be a great idea . . . . I'll get some geese!

I found a pair of African geese and brought them home and built a safe enclosure with pine straw. They were still in their baby down and when I had an opportunity would take them for a walk on the beach along the sound side.
They had bonded to me and followed me everywhere . . . . no problem right? A few months passed and they grew up! I had named them Mert and Gert and they recognized their names and my voice. Eventually Mert became so protective that I grew concerned . . . very concerned. They patrolled the bay and believed their domain extended from the EPA to entrance to LC westward a ways. They were self sufficient and I loved them, however, Mertie became so ornery I was the only person who had any semblance of control over him but I could sit down on my steps and make this stupid sound that Mert loved and he would gently peck my face while I was doing it. One of my best friends had a go fast boat named Cash Flow and Mertie hated him with a passion when he would pull up at the dock, I would have to escort him up to the deck and safely by Mert. One day I saw a kite come crashing down in the water behind the house but could not see the owners so I went out, got the kite up and tied it to some rip rap in hopes the owners would see the kite's location. A few minutes passed and sure enough two guys came over from the Gulf side to claim their kite . . . . one stayed on the shore while the other swam across the canal to retrieve the kite. After the young man was practically across to finally recover the kite Mert and Gert came around the corner of the channel entrance . . . . when Mert saw this intruder it was clear there was a problem . . . Mert weighed about 25-30 lbs and he was raging furious. I warned the guy but too late Mert began his assault sticking his beak under the water and biting the guys stomach over and over and over . . . . the man was furiously fighting the fight but Mert was kicking his butt!! His buddy waiting on the far bank and witnessing this calamity was rolling with uncontrollable laughter as was I,
I eventually found Mert and Gert a nice safe place to live with a lady out on 98 who had a huge piece of property with two ponds and they lived there happily ever after . . . . .

I love Foie Gras! Only when properly prepared though, of course.

Geese were used by the Germans as perimeter guards. They are very territorial, but Foxley cuddled up in the rescuers arms and seemed very comfortable with humans. However, my experience with golf course Canadian geese are that they are smart and know nobody will whack them for fear of being reported, and more than once I have seen somebody in our foursome get attacked, which like your funny story ends up with everybody laughing at the goose victim. What I do with the geese on the islands is run the mower at them and let the dog chase them.....she has gotten about three of them and after that the geese move off the islands into the water when they have humans approaching.

I also think geese can identify orange. When I wear my orange stocking cap they take off right away.....lots of orange during hunting season.

The area around the EPA is one of my favorite spots for catching specs. A friend of mine owns the house just to the east of it. Btw... both the white domestic goose and the snow goose can fly and migrate. Not as well as the Canadian goose... but they can certainly fly unless their wings are clipped... as can chickens despite common misconception.

The domestic geese here in Illinois have their wings clipped. We have fox, mink, and coyote which in the winter, running to the water to escape a predator is not an option. I do not like Canadian geese. As much as I dislike them, I have not gotten a hunting license to eat one. I do not like how greasy a goose is. I also do not like plucking them and cleaning them, so I quit hunting water foul probably thirty years ago, because I do not hunt unless I am going to eat my kill.

Glad Foxley will be protected.

Foxley just got another goose friend. Apparently the flooding moved another domestic goose to the islands. They immediately come up to people because they associate people with food. We have been feeding the new goose cherrios and he loves them. All my wife had to do when the wildlife rescue people came this morning was shake the box of cheerios and the goose followed right up to the rescuer. These people find adoptive homes for these animals and do their work as volunteers. Pretty dedicated folks, but as the man said, it would not survive the winter on the islands.

Nice story for a Thursday afternoon. I'll think of it (and you, and Mrs. Sea and the goose) when I eat my Cheerios (mix them with other cereals most days of the week - I love 'em, too).