I bought three young pair of Canada geese for my
farm. To minimize the transportation trauma, I
drove to the breeder in East Texas to pick them
up myself. The trip back to the farm was about
5 hours, and although I shaded them in the back
of my truck as much as possible, it was hot that
September day.
I arrived about nightfall and took the crates of
geese to the edge of our 5 acre lake. One of the
geese looked stunned and delirious. I worried
about her being sick from the ride.

I picked her up an carried her around for awhile,
then placed her in shallow water. Unable to swim,
she hobbled back to shore toward me. So I picked
her up again and took her to a safe spot to let
her recover on her own.

The next morning, the goose was swimming all over
the lake with the rest of the group. But she had
imprinted me as her mother, and from then on,
followed me around the farm whenever I went out-
side. She'd honk until I'd get down on knees and
elbows and honk back at her. After this, she felt
satisfied and carried on with her own kind.


I'd constructed nests for the geese on an island
in the lake. At 4 years of age, the time when
most Canada geese reproduce for the first time,
my goose friend began sitting on a nest. I knew
it was her from our unique communication. However,
the goose was nesting openly on the ground instead
of in one of the constructed nests. I was con-
cerned a raccoon might swim over to the island
and steal the eggs away from the nest.

I paddled a small rowboat over to the island, and
we had our ususal greeting of mutual honking. I
sat on the closest nest box, so she could get
accustomed to me in her new role as mother. She
had constructed her own nest from fresh hay I'd
put in the nest box. She then lined it with down
feathers plucked from her own body.

While I sat there, she got up off the nest, and
for several minutes, carefully placed the down
over the eggs. By the time she had completed the
process, her two cream-colored eggs were invisible
under the soft ivory feathers and insulated to
stay warm for the brief time that she was away.

My friend gave me two brief honks, as if to say
"Watch these." Then she went to the edge of the
lake to drink and forage.

What an experience. I had the privilege of seeing
in that brief span of a few minutes, the constuc-
tion of the original down comforter.

Author: David Krueger - Sugar Land, Texas