This has been my first spring with a mated pair of geese. I was prepared for my sweet little gosling from last year, Jensen, turning into a full grown gander protecting his goose, although it did create some logistic problems.
One was allowing people safe access to my front door. I put up a 2' tall board, and it worked like a charm. The geese would be on one side of the board, and my guests could get to the door on the other side.
A friend of mine was visiting about a month ago, and we stayed on the safe side of the board. My goose never took to her, and Jensen seemed no different. But as we sat there, my friend kept talking to Jensen (telling him what a beautiful and wise gander he was
) and after about an hour he seemed more interested in her than wanting to chase her off. My friend then tried entering the goose side of the fence, and lo and behold, Jensen let her walk around in the yard!
Fast forward to last week. My friend came to visit me again, and I had forgotten to put up the board. This time Jensen made a beeline for her, I ran to protect her, but he just greeted her like a long lost friend - and proceeded to stay at her side like a well-trained dog! He not only remembered her; he followed her everywhere, and he called for her when she was inside my house and he couldn't see her. He even allowed her to pet him!
She was there to help me weed my patio, and Jensen was by her side most of the time. It was so surreal, seeing them sitting there together. He did nibble on her arms a little when he thought she was hiding the good weeds from him, but there's a world of difference between nibbling and biting.
When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't sure whether it had been a dream. Luckily, I had filmed a little of their interaction:
One was allowing people safe access to my front door. I put up a 2' tall board, and it worked like a charm. The geese would be on one side of the board, and my guests could get to the door on the other side.
A friend of mine was visiting about a month ago, and we stayed on the safe side of the board. My goose never took to her, and Jensen seemed no different. But as we sat there, my friend kept talking to Jensen (telling him what a beautiful and wise gander he was
) and after about an hour he seemed more interested in her than wanting to chase her off. My friend then tried entering the goose side of the fence, and lo and behold, Jensen let her walk around in the yard! Fast forward to last week. My friend came to visit me again, and I had forgotten to put up the board. This time Jensen made a beeline for her, I ran to protect her, but he just greeted her like a long lost friend - and proceeded to stay at her side like a well-trained dog! He not only remembered her; he followed her everywhere, and he called for her when she was inside my house and he couldn't see her. He even allowed her to pet him!
She was there to help me weed my patio, and Jensen was by her side most of the time. It was so surreal, seeing them sitting there together. He did nibble on her arms a little when he thought she was hiding the good weeds from him, but there's a world of difference between nibbling and biting.
When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't sure whether it had been a dream. Luckily, I had filmed a little of their interaction:
