Each February Mother and Father Goose come to our
dock. For a week or two they just lovingly sit next to each other, then they
begin their ritual of searching for a nest. Mother Goose always ends up in the
same nest site - directly across the creek in the corner of the dock. Amid the
dredging company’s equipment, she patiently builds her nest of grasses and twigs and, I
guess whatever else is lying around. Father Goose then patiently sits on my dock
and watches over his wife. He vocally and physically challenges any male goose
that comes anywhere near Mother Goose. He jumps into the water, honking very
loudly, and is not satisfied until he chases the other males all the way down
the creek.
Father Goose always calls Mother Goose at feeding
time. Like a proud father-to-be, he patiently waits for her to fly across the
creek, leads her to the food and then diligently stands guard, protecting her,
while she eats.
Their routine changes about three or
four weeks before their eggs are due to hatch. Father Goose abandons my dock and
begins to spend every minute with Mother Goose. He by and large stays in the
water defending her nest and chasing away any goose who dares to come near. This
spring he's discovered a new vantage point - a small boat tied at the dock
alongside the nest. Both barely eat anything. I sometimes wonder how they
survive. Mother Goose only gets off the nest once or twice a day to bathe in the
creek for a few short minutes. She returns to the nest immediately.
When the babies hatch, usually sometime in early May,
I so enjoy watching their little golden brown bodies scampering along the edge
of the dock. When they are a day or two old, they are ready to tumble into the
creek and have their first swim. This is the last I see of them for once Mother
and Father Goose have their babies, they don’t come back onto my property
until next year. I am certain this has something to do with the fact that the swans,
who now have babies of their own to look after, spend a lot of time at the foot
of my duck ramp and up on the dock in the sanctuary. Both Diablo
and Sara Beth attack anything that comes even remotely
near their babies.
My husband is not as fond of the geese as I am.
Whenever he thinks I’m not looking,
he always tries to chase Father Goose into
the water. He paid dearly
for his mistake! When I was rescuing Patches, I had to
climb over Mother Goose’s nest, which I did very
slowly and very carefully, fully expecting her to attack me. It was heartwarming to
see just how much she trusted me as she allowed me to
cross over her nest without so much as a ruffled feather. Not the case, however,
for my husband - “The Goose Chaser” - who surely got his just desserts! The minute he tried to step over Mother Goose’s
nest, Father Goose, who was watching from his vantage point across the creek,
flew off my dock, in a rage, honking as loud as he could, attacking and
dive-bombing my husband. Mother Goose and I had the last laugh! Who says geese
don’t take care of their friends???
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