Sunday 28 September 2008
Wild Goose Chase
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Friday, Ron & I went up to Zephyr Lake Park to ty to catch the pair of Toulouse geese that someone abandoned. When they saw us, they swam right up for handouts, and ate the bread we tossed for them. We both had nets, and Ron was able to catch one of them. Once he got that one in the crate, he came back to help me with the other one. At one point I tried to head him off as he ran toward the water, but slipped on the wet grass and went down on my ass as the goose high tailed it for the water. Of course he refused to come out and swam well out of reach with the local mallard ducks. We left for a bit and came back to find him back on shore, so we tried again. This time he went right over Ron's head and back into the lake. We hid and waited like a couple of lame hunters, but no way would he come back out again, so we gave up and brought the first goose home with us. Today, we went up to the lake again to try another go at catching the second goose. He was staying far away from the beach and hanging out by the vegetation with the ducks. So I decided to go around and head down the railroad tracks to try to get to where they were. I went down the bank and they swam away slowly, but I started tossing little pieces of bread into the water, and the goose turned around and started back my way. I was surprised and excited to see he was coming right up to me and even ate from my hand. So after a couple minutes, I squatted down and tossed a couple pieces down in front of me. He bent his head to eat them and I grabbed him by the neck. He let out a surprised HONK! and struggled just a little and settled right down as soon as I was holding him. I think he may have actually felt relieved ... one because I didn't eat him and two because he probably knows people are where the food and safety really come from. When we got home, I reunited the pair, and the first goose started making soft little happy noises... they are definitely very happy to be back together. So happy ending! Yay! :) I have to thank this wildlife rescue guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu_KMGhA on the best way to catch a goose. It definitely works well. :) ~Lily |
Comments
Sunday 21 December 2008 - Update
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Posted by Anonymous