So I fibbed. I said my next posting would be about "If I Only Had The Time", but the enormous gaggle of geese assembled not more than one-hundred feet off the stern of our Aqua RV has inspired me to chronicle what I am hearing and seeing. Since my last posting was about listening and motor mouths, allow me to describe what Capt. SO and I have been experiencing since today's dawning.
I'll estimate that the number of geese assembled in the open, channel-waters behind our Aqua RV has fluctuated between one to three hundred Canadian Geese. If you are not familiar with Canadian Geese, they are not shy about expressing their thoughts and feelings to fellow geese and any other living creatures or inert objects, for that matter. The honking has been non-stop. Geese are the ultimate motor-mouths. Occasionally it seems that one goose will honk at a time, then suddenly a chorus of geese gibberish will erupt, sounding like the first choir rehearsal of George Frederick Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus". How I would love to know what geese dialogues are playing out.
It is clear that geese do not appreciate the presence of seagulls. If a seagull comes near or has the nerve to land among the geese, the ensuing complaint level can be ear-splitting and the seagull usually takes flight immediately. From time to time a really irritating seagull will calmly float a bit, as if trying to annoy the geese. Ultimately the gull gives in to the heckling honking and takes off. Ducks do not appear to have the same affect on the geese and are able to peaceably float with their fellow feathered-friends.
Canadian Geese are a protected species here and, I suspect, everywhere. They are considered nuisance creatures when they congregate on land because they are prolific poopers and they care not where their poop piles up, and pile up, it does. Owners of cottages and homes that are located on the waterfront go to great lengths to discourage the geese from assembling on their property, utilizing every imaginative prop known to mankind to drive the geese 'somewhere else'. Thusly, I can appreciate the geese from my vantage point because they are not on the docks.......yet. When the piles of poop, that resemble falafel when stepped on (I have personal experience with this.), begin decorating the docks, the geese will become unwelcome visitors and will have to be shooed off.....no easy task as goose-leaders tend to become highly aggressive when annoyed.
May your day be goose-free, with the exception of seeing the impressive geese formations as they fly through the sky. I will enjoy my goose-visage from a closer perspective......until the falafel appears.
Ancora imparo
