Silverware Thief

Wild geese reproduce at a prolific rate. I have read about how wild Canadian geese populations have become a problem in some areas, their numbers have grown so large.

We don’t have that problem in this neighborhood.

Yet.

But, watching the wild geese that live in this area, I see how it does happen in other areas.

Geese Grazing

Directly across the street is a large pond which serves as the summer residence for a flock of Canadian geese. When they came back this spring I would say it was a small flock. I did no official count, but the number of geese was approximately thirteen. Apparently, they promptly began the process of making sure another generation would follow as by early May I saw little goslings in tow behind parents swimming around the pond.

The speed with which the geese hatched goslings was surprising (they must have started sitting in early April when the weather was still far from entirely pleasant), but even more surprising was the number they had hatched. These aren’t domesticated animals. These are wild creatures living by their wits. One might think the strain of self-sufficiency would keep the reproduction rate somewhat lower than domesticated animals, but the number of young produced by this flock of wild geese was better than anything I’ve personally seen among domesticated geese.

Of the thirteen geese, ten of them matched up to form five pairs. The remaining three were either all male, all female, or not romantically inclined, I presume. I didn’t perform a precise count of goslings, but a close visual estimate showed that two of the pairs had produced five goslings each, two pairs had produced four goslings each, and the last pair had produced three goslings. Thus, if nobody perishes over the summer the departing flock will have grown from thirteen to thirty-four! Even allowing for a few deaths, the possibility for exponential growth is staggering.

The practical part of me sees some interesting opportunities. The geese are self-sufficient and eco-friendly, as they eat only grass. Further, they reproduce in large amounts yet are effectively no cost to raise. Ergo, there seems a great opportunity here to take up low cost geese farming or, if more philanthropically inclined, deal with some world hunger. There are geese flocks all over the United States that are reproducing at a vigorous rate. Some judicious thinning of those thousands of flocks ought to provide meat for many meals.

That is the practical side. But I’m not a very practical guy.

The other side of me thinks the goslings look awful cute trundling around out on the grassy banks of the pond. So I just watch them, and marvel at how fast they grow.

Goslings Resting

The geese are not the only wildlife that appreciates the pond. One day I was down in the garage and happened to glance out the window and saw down the street a dark . . . thing crossing the road. My first thought was, Whoa, that is the largest lizard I’ve ever seen! Then my mind made a little better sense of what I was seeing and I realized it was a snapping turtle crossing the road.

Why did the turtle cross the road? To get to the pond.

I raced to grab my camera and ran out of the house, barefoot, to get pictures.

Snapping Turtle

I think turtles are cool. The bigger they are, the better. They appeal to the little boy in me that likes anything with armor, spikes, or any such gear. They have a majestic, ancient, and crusty air. They look to me like the last remaining dinosaurs. The turtle I found was not the biggest turtle I’ve ever seen, but with the serrated edge of his shell and the spikes on his tail he did look like a little dinosaur.

Crabby Turtle

He was also shy and rather crabby. As soon as I started to approach he went into a defensive posture, pulling back into his shell. But, whenever I touched him, he would scramble to turn around to face me, looking for any opportunity where he might bite. A snapping turtle’s bite is not pleasant.

If you’re less than adventuresome, the first sight of a large snapping turtle will have you scared to enter streams or ponds ever again. Just imagine one of those boys going for your toes.