Today, the last day of winter, was a weird one for local geese.
I saw a pair of geese–often referred to by their affectionate nickname, poopmonsters–in the pond outside the Langara library this morning. This is perfectly normal, except the pond is empty and I got the impression, somehow, that the geese were expecting and perhaps demanding water. Soon, geese, soon. They have to wait until overnight temperatures stay above freezing for a week or something.
Later I went for my usual walk around the golf course at lunch and saw another pair of geese (or maybe the same pair, which would be even better) out on the links. They weren’t golfing, or at least not yet. They were just milling about, pecking at the ground for food, and probably pooping. I heard the splendorous honking of another pair of geese and looked to the sky. Lo, there they were, and they came down to join their feathered friends. Except they were not friends. One of the geese, upon landing, immediately chased another. A goose fracas quickly ensured, with much honking, wing-flapping and snapping of beaks. It was either an alpha male thing (do geese have alpha males) or one of the geese was just plain loco. I’m still not sure which. If I’d had more time I would have shot some video, because it was a dazzling display of waterfowl foolery.
And this ends winter and the season of crazy geese.
