High Drama among the Geese
You may recall last year when it fell to me to recount the sad tale of Isaiah Hopwood Gooseworthy, "Hoppy" to his friends and admirers (scroll down to May 7, if you wish, but be sure to bring a hankie)...
Well, the geese are back. This year there are two moms incubating eggs in the courtyard: The parents of the unfortunate Hoppy and a new couple (the gander of this pair is hardly ever around...) who have set up nest at a respectable distance. Everyone at work is watching the bucolic scene and waiting for the goslings to hatch.
This morning, though, the courtyard was anything but bucolic. In fact, it was like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome: Two ganders go in...
Actually, the drama apparently began yesterday when the newer momma goose launched herself off her eggs, neck thrust out like a honking spear, to admonish some goosey interloper. This was duly reported via email throughout the building.
Whatever kind of goose-ish warfare was going on hit its peak early this a.m. I witnessed it as I headed back to my office after procuring my morning caffeine fix from the company cafeteria. This time, Hoppy's parents were the aggressors. The mom was standing over her eggs, neck thrust toward the trespasser, honking loudly. The dad was flying menacingly at the uninvited guest, who was huddled rather pitifully in one corner of the courtyard. Suddenly, the set-upon goose tried to take flight. Alas, the courtyard was not wide enough (or it was just too pooped) for it to get enough lift to fly out of it. It crashed right into a second-floor window and fell to the ground, whereupon both mom and pop Gooseworthy started pecking angrily at its motionless carcass.
I was horrified! I was certain the downed goose had broken its neck and was dead on the ground. It was as I gazed at this awful scene that I became aware of other eyes watching... and I looked up at the roofline to see a number of other geese, evenly spaced along the perimeter of the courtyard, observing the action. Shudder!
It turns out that the gathered geese and I were not the only witnesses to this fowl violence. Just about everyone whose cube or office overlooks the courtyard had front row seats for the action. The altercation and goose/window collision so upset one of the fact checkers that she had to go home, sobbing.
It turns out that the interloper was NOT killed... at least, not outright. Apparently it arose from its stupor to shrug off the peckers and fly, much the worse for wear but this time successfully, out of the courtyard.
Never a dull moment in textbook publishing... trust me on this one!
Well, the geese are back. This year there are two moms incubating eggs in the courtyard: The parents of the unfortunate Hoppy and a new couple (the gander of this pair is hardly ever around...) who have set up nest at a respectable distance. Everyone at work is watching the bucolic scene and waiting for the goslings to hatch.
This morning, though, the courtyard was anything but bucolic. In fact, it was like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome: Two ganders go in...
Actually, the drama apparently began yesterday when the newer momma goose launched herself off her eggs, neck thrust out like a honking spear, to admonish some goosey interloper. This was duly reported via email throughout the building.
Whatever kind of goose-ish warfare was going on hit its peak early this a.m. I witnessed it as I headed back to my office after procuring my morning caffeine fix from the company cafeteria. This time, Hoppy's parents were the aggressors. The mom was standing over her eggs, neck thrust toward the trespasser, honking loudly. The dad was flying menacingly at the uninvited guest, who was huddled rather pitifully in one corner of the courtyard. Suddenly, the set-upon goose tried to take flight. Alas, the courtyard was not wide enough (or it was just too pooped) for it to get enough lift to fly out of it. It crashed right into a second-floor window and fell to the ground, whereupon both mom and pop Gooseworthy started pecking angrily at its motionless carcass.
I was horrified! I was certain the downed goose had broken its neck and was dead on the ground. It was as I gazed at this awful scene that I became aware of other eyes watching... and I looked up at the roofline to see a number of other geese, evenly spaced along the perimeter of the courtyard, observing the action. Shudder!
It turns out that the gathered geese and I were not the only witnesses to this fowl violence. Just about everyone whose cube or office overlooks the courtyard had front row seats for the action. The altercation and goose/window collision so upset one of the fact checkers that she had to go home, sobbing.
It turns out that the interloper was NOT killed... at least, not outright. Apparently it arose from its stupor to shrug off the peckers and fly, much the worse for wear but this time successfully, out of the courtyard.
Never a dull moment in textbook publishing... trust me on this one!
Labels: goose warfare, Hoppy, Nature red in tooth and claw
posted by Cathy VanPatten at 10:08 PM
5 Comments:
I'd have been one of the sobbing ones. Man! Those geese are MEAN!
I much prefer the goose story I read in The Dallas Morning News last week. There's a sweet goose who walks the school crosswalk with the kids and guards every day. Whenever the kids cross the street, Sam the Goose goes with them. He's a friendly little guy.
I don't know that I've ever met a friendly goose, although Sam sounds very cool!
My first day on my current job, I was sitting in my office with its floor-to-ceiling windows right at ground level when a goose waddled up to the window and stared daggers at me through the glass! I swear, if looks could have killed! It so unnerved me that I drew the drapes! LOL!
We are all on pins and needles to see the little goslings when they hatch, though. Usually, the blessed events take place over a weekend, and they are gone by the time we return on Monday.
Oh, yeah. And I realize that I got the male of the species wrong--Drake should be gander. I guess I should fix that, but it screws with my alliteration!
Ever thought about bringing Shelley to work to see how she'd react to all those geese outside the window? LOL.
How cool would that be if you got to see the little goslings hatch?
Sam the Goose is friendly because he was raised by hand, but then he escaped to the great outer world.
His former owner had heard about this goose that was doing crosswalk duty with the kids, and she wondered if it was her goose. Sure enough, when she went to check him out, he ran right up to her to be petted. She decided to let him stay since he was making all those kids so happy, and he was obviously enjoying his new job.
Well, one gosling hatched out today in the courtyard--"mom" was trying to keep it under her wing, and "dad" was standing guard very vigilantly. I hope the rest will have hatched out by tomorrow, but that means they will be long gone by the time we get back to work on Monday!
Guess I should bring my camera to work tomorrow!
And sometimes there are success stories!
Six ducklings rescued from sewer after mother followed them for two miles and raised alarm
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