Mother Goose Tale

Mother Goose Tale

Noel Laflin

8-5-20

Two different pairs of Egyptian geese built nests in large cavities of trees close to the upper lagoon this summer. One nest was in an old oak, about five feet off the ground, and the other nest was in an ancient sycamore tree, about twenty feet up; it looked like an old owls nest.

The oak couple produced five goslings, and ten days later the other Egyptians in the sycamore tree hatched one youngster. I wish I had seen mama goose grab that downy fluff-ball by the scruff of the neck and fly it some twenty feet safely to the ground - but, sadly, I missed that event.

By the time the lone chick from the sycamore nest was taken to the water, the oak goslings had shrunk in number, from five to three. Either predators or disease took down two of their members.

And by the time I noticed that the taller nest was empty and went looking for the new gosling, I discovered that he/she was now with the other family. Why, you may ask? I have no idea. But as I found its parents at one end of the lagoon basking in the sunshine, there, down the shoreline, was the other family with four kids - one visibly smaller than the others.

I am still mystified as to the arrangement and transfer of the youngest gosling, but such is the mystery of geese, I guess.

Days later, four goslings had dwindled down to three - but two of the kids are still larger than their adoptive sibling.

And that’s where it has stood for the last week.

All get along just swimmingly, from what I can see. Both oak parents guard the youngsters closely, hissing fiercely should a dog walk by, or chasing all mallards and coots off the lagoon if the fancy suits them.

It’s a strange and wonderful thing to watch these past several weeks.

Here’s hoping the current family of five stays this way for the foreseeable future.