Today we have a gaggle of Canada geese from reader Lenora Good. While the goslings are cute and the parental behavior touching, these are a plague on Botany Pond, and may try to invade again this year. Fortunately, they usually leave after a few days. Lenora’s captions are indented:
All photos were taken in Richland WA, and are of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) There were a few adults around the flotilla of babies, so I’m assuming (dangerous, I know) that more than one family is represented. I have no idea when they hatched, but my guess is within the week. I first saw them three or four days ago, but couldn’t get decent pictures. I did not get close for these, and though I was watched by the adults, they weren’t concerned about my presence, though they did chase a few adult geese off. The babies were more curious, but I backed away from them when they came toward me so I wouldn’t upset their parental units.
JAC: Given that the clutch size of a female is usually 2-8 goslings, this brood (I count 22) probably comes from several mothers.
Uh oh – is 88K amassing an army?
I think you might be right. 😉
Fascinating creatures
Adorable! Baby geese. So fluffy and cute
I’m not sure how we ended up with six baby geese, but loved the fact they were sort of green. When grown, I [10 year old] loved to play with them: I would chase them, then stop. I’d run away, and they would chase me. Repeat endless times over. Unfortunately, it seems these geese loved to eat little green oranges [weird, but true.] Since our livelihood as orange growers depended on producing as many oranges as possible, this meant their goose was cooked – literally.