Three years ago 2 white geese and 2 Canadian Geese came to Texas. One of the white geese had broken wings, so all 4 geese stayed in Texas through the hot Texas summer. I felt sorry for them, especially the Canadian Geese, because they should have flown north in the spring. Actually, I thought the white geese were probably the females and the black/gray geese were the males.
The next year they had 3 chicks. All the chicks grew up with the same black/gray markings of the Canadian Geese. Again, that summer they all stayed in Texas. This spring they had 7 chicks! They also grew up to become Canadian Geese. We now have a flock of 12 Canadian Geese and 2 white geese at our neighborhood lake. It wasn't until recently that I figured out that the white geese are just some sort of domestic breed. The Canadian Geese became friends with the domestic birds and won't leave them. I wonder if anyone has ever heard of such a strange thing. If you have, let me know.
9 comments:
that is very strange, but also very cool ad picturesq, all those birds being friends after moving :)
thanks for sharing!
Hi Izzy, Yes it is interesting how they bonded even though they're not related.
Here in Ohio, Canadian Geese are like feathered roaches, yet it is illegal to kill them even if you intend to eat the little turds.
Hi Brooke, Do you have them in the winter or the summer? Or all year long?
They're in the Cincinnati area ALL THE TIME.
They get more obnoxious in the springtime.
OMGosh, that's funny Brooke. I thought they were supposed to fly north in the spring and south in the fall... I guess I need to read up on it. It sounds like they've become lazy and spoiled and stay in the cities. Have you ever seen them hanging out with the run-of-the-mill white geese?
They don't migrate because people foolishly feed them, expecting cute little babies. Of course, this makes them complacent and pushy, and once they establish a nesting area the never leave, or they return after the very coldest two months.
They actually do hang out with the regular white geese, but their numbers so overpower the 'regs' that the white geese are actually the anomaly here.
What really hacks me off is that they are EVERYWHERE, in lakes, ponds, rivers, ect. If they are on your private pond you may not drive them off, and despite their prevalent numbers they may not be hunted for food or any other reason.
BELIVE ME, one of those guys would make a wonderful dinner or two for my family. We live next to the river, so they are everywhere. They even bully the local duck population, but politics say they are 'protected.'
Hi Brooke, Fascinating! It looks like they've started up a local population right here in Dallas. They don't bully the white geese here,,, yet. The white geese actually bully some of the lower ranking Canadian Geese. There's 2 "outcasts"... You're right, they would make a few good dinners at 20 + lbs. The white geese are much more aggressive in our population, but that could be because the CG's are all still pretty young.
Thanks for all the info! Hope you're doing well.
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