We live on a community lake with a flock of 5 domestic geese. We have lived here 5 years and they have always been here, so I don't know how old they are. They had 2 babies this spring; one disappeared already. Last night we had a bad, heavy thunderstorm all evening and off/on into the night. Around 2:00 am, we heard the geese honking up a storm right off our dock. They were going nuts. Got our flashlight and found the baby stuck in some pond weed near our bulkhead, with no dry ground that it could reach. We decided to try to get it unstuck, but during the process, the geese stopped honking and swam back to the other end of the lake where they normally hang out, leaving baby behind. Baby was exhausted, back completely submerged in water. No way could it swim after them. We scooped it up, brought it inside, blow dried it off and put it on a heating pad. About 4:00 am, I heard a goose out back honking, apparently came back to look for it. Poor thing! This morning, baby was fine and hissing at us.
Now we are at the point of what to do!
1. Do we return it ASAP (now) to his flock?
OR
2. Do we raise him until he is bigger (fully feathered out), with the goal of him joining his flock again?
If we do #1..... I am afraid he will just die like all the others have. They have never successfully raised any babies the whole time I have lived here. We are on a lake with big mouth bass, lots of hawks. The natural lake edge is about 50 % bulkheads, 25% steep erosion, with only 10-20% left of possibilities for them to safely roost. So not a very baby friendly lake! Do I take my chances anyways???
If we do #2.... Will his flock accept him back when the time comes?? Will he be too imprinted on us? Willl he properly know how to hunt and act like a goose to survive with the others? Am afraid to mess with mother nature, don't want to ruin him!
What should I do?
Now we are at the point of what to do!
1. Do we return it ASAP (now) to his flock?
OR
2. Do we raise him until he is bigger (fully feathered out), with the goal of him joining his flock again?
If we do #1..... I am afraid he will just die like all the others have. They have never successfully raised any babies the whole time I have lived here. We are on a lake with big mouth bass, lots of hawks. The natural lake edge is about 50 % bulkheads, 25% steep erosion, with only 10-20% left of possibilities for them to safely roost. So not a very baby friendly lake! Do I take my chances anyways???
If we do #2.... Will his flock accept him back when the time comes?? Will he be too imprinted on us? Willl he properly know how to hunt and act like a goose to survive with the others? Am afraid to mess with mother nature, don't want to ruin him!
What should I do?
Last edited:
