Gander went missing, reappeared fine 3 days later?

[scratchandgrit]

A few months ago, my wife brought home a pair of Pilgrim geese. On Saturday, when I returned from a trip into the city, one of the ganders was missing. The rest of the geese were waddling about as if nothing were wrong. I searched for him—or, more accurately, I was looking for his carcass or at least some stray feathers—but couldn't find him and nothing seemed amiss. As of this morning, he was still missing. I assumed he'd been killed by a predator, because they're basically free range and live down by the pond. I expect losses.

Well, when I got home from dropping my son off at school just a few minutes ago, he was back with the group! Came out of nowhere while I was out for an hour. He looks 100% fine. What the heck? Is this something that's typical? I've never raised geese before, so this is a new experience for me.

 

[Miss Lydia]

A few months ago, my wife brought home a pair of Pilgrim geese. On Saturday, when I returned from a trip into the city, one of the ganders was missing. The rest of the geese were waddling about as if nothing were wrong. I searched for him—or, more accurately, I was looking for his carcass or at least some stray feathers—but couldn't find him and nothing seemed amiss. As of this morning, he was still missing. I assumed he'd been killed by a predator, because they're basically free range and live down by the pond. I expect losses.

Well, when I got home from dropping my son off at school just a few minutes ago, he was back with the group! Came out of nowhere while I was out for an hour. He looks 100% fine. What the heck? Is this something that's typical? I've never raised geese before, so this is a new experience for me.

I have no idea, unless someone took him and decided they didn't want him after all and brought him back.

 

[Goose and Fig]

No- you are really lucky. Usually if one gets separated from the flock they will yell and yell until they are reunited. Glad he made it back!

 

[scratchandgrit]

Yeah, there was no honking and yelling. We're on about 14 acres, much of which is wooded, so enough to make it hard to search, but not so much that we wouldn't be able to hear him if he were anywhere on or near the property and vocalizing. And pretty confident no one stole him for a few days.

The only other odd thing was that we started noticing white splotches mixed in among the regular goose poop, on our concrete surfaces where they hang out from time to time. This started up a day or so before he disappeared, so, not knowing what this meant, thought he might've been sick and wandered off? But do geese even do this? For whatever it's worth, he doesn't look sick or injured now.

(And I wondered if the white substance wasn't just "pee", but, I've never seen this from the geese before, so that doesn't seem right...)

They do stick together at all times, can't really fly more than a few feet, and don't otherwise wander very far from the pond or our house.

Perplexing.

 

[Miss Lydia]

You may never know but thank goodness he is back, My geese have all kinds of different looking poop depending on what they have been eating that day.