Canada Geese on the pond

I glanced towards the pond this morning and saw this gaggle of wild Canada Geese resting on the bank. Grabbed the camera and tiptoed down with a friend to take a couple of pics. They really are quiet/docile birds. My friend was able to nearly touch one who was watching the approach when one goose out of the pack let out a single HONK. They all quietly made their way into the water nobody else made a sound. I often marvel at their ability to "stealth mode" across our property. I looked out the window one day and saw the whole gang of them trekking between my garage and barn. So quietly, that my normally overly barky/observant dogs in the yard about 50 feet from them didn't even notice.
Sadly, my friend reports the juvenile who was almost touched, seems to have angel wing. :C I hope the little thing can fly enough to keep up with the family otherwise I dunno what I will do.

SilksterTN said:

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Beautiful pics. lovely area. Most of the time they cannot fly if they have angel wing. you may have a goose wintering over at your pond.

I hope not. A single goose down there stands about no chance of surviving with all of the foxes in the area :C

SilksterTN said:

I hope not. A single goose down there stands about no chance of surviving with all of the foxes in the area :C

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you could always adopt. you know in the wild this happens more than we know gosling reaching the age where the family is ready to fly but one can't so it finally gets left behind and natural selection takes place. I hate it and would probably want to adopt it but I do realize we can't save them all.

I'm sure that I will consider that if the time comes. I have no idea how I'd catch it tho LOL The pond is enormous. With as much rain as we have had this year so far, I'd guess that it covers at least an acre. We have had Canada geese on the pond every year since we have lived here, but this year there are a lot more hanging out.

SilksterTN said:

I'm sure that I will consider that if the time comes. I have no idea how I'd catch it tho LOL The pond is enormous. With as much rain as we have had this year so far, I'd guess that it covers at least an acre. We have had Canada geese on the pond every year since we have lived here, but this year there are a lot more hanging out.

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Word of mouth lol you know if it does get left behind then you can start putting feed out for it eventually it will become use to you and may even follow you up to your house. Around 4-5 months you should notice it trying to get it's wings going.

Miss Lydia said:

Word of mouth lol you know if it does get left behind then you can start putting feed out for it eventually it will become use to you and may even follow you up to your house. Around 4-5 months you should notice it trying to get it's wings going.

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LOL its funny because there is a tiny little pond across the street. For a while the entire flock would stealth mode next to my barn to cross the street and hang out in that one. I cannot even imagine why LOL with this many they probably covered the entire pond! I have thought about starting to feed them all now. If I go down there they dont really move until I get fairly close-within tossing distance of a handful of food. I need to hit TSC today or tomorrow anyway -suggestions on what food would really make them interested? I have some floating catfish food, but once they hit the water, they are too far away to notice it (the fish love it tho). I was thinking about picking up some scratch for the chickens as a treat.....or cracked corn? What would you recommend?

SilksterTN said:

LOL its funny because there is a tiny little pond across the street. For a while the entire flock would stealth mode next to my barn to cross the street and hang out in that one. I cannot even imagine why LOL with this many they probably covered the entire pond! I have thought about starting to feed them all now. If I go down there they dont really move until I get fairly close-within tossing distance of a handful of food. I need to hit TSC today or tomorrow anyway -suggestions on what food would really make them interested? I have some floating catfish food, but once they hit the water, they are too far away to notice it (the fish love it tho). I was thinking about picking up some scratch for the chickens as a treat.....or cracked corn? What would you recommend?

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I know some will say they are wild and shouldn't be fed and this is probably true. But one time we had a pair stop over late spring and we had had a late cold spell They landed on the bank above the fence line so I went and put out scratch grains for them they came back the next day too after that they staid at the river below, but I felt like they needed some extra help through that rough patch, we had a very cold snowy winter that year. They would probably eat whole corn but this time of year with so much other things to eat they may not be that interested in scratch or W/corn. but if you buy it for your own flock then it wouldn't hurt to put some out and see if anyone is interested.

LOL ok I'm taking notes!