Back-post 7/18/10: The Goose Family Reunion

I live in a proverbial wildlife preservation: behind my house, there is a pond, a creek, and some thick woods. All of this provides ample opportunity for regular wildlife experiences. Naturally (pun intended), I enjoy this quite a bit.

A family of geese showed up in my pond last year. Considering it was my first spring at this house, I was delighted and began noting their behavior. After awhile, some baby geese appeared. (So fluffy and cute! This picture was taken in May 2010.)

Their comings and goings in my yard were regulated by their need for my grass. Fortunately for them, my landlord is not always on top of the mowing, so they get to munch away at some healthy, long strands. I could always count on the geese--day or night, rain or shine, they'd be out there swimming, eating, wandering, and chasing each other.

Later in June, I noticed that the flock grew substantially. I affectionately refer to this population surge as The Goose Family Reunion.

The Goose Family Reunion continued throughout July. More geese grazing means they'll cover more ground... and quickly. I noticed them edging closer and closer to my porch. Once when I took my dog outside, she went the full length of her leash to chase them and they just stood there while she barked, as if to say, "Yeah, right. We're the real animals here, dog."

They just kept getting closer to my house. Inch by inch, they claimed my yard as theirs. Goose dropping soon coated my yard (a great image, I know).

One morning--July 18, 2010, to be exact--I woke to find that the geese were in the road in front of my house. (!) I had no idea what they intended to accomplish there, but I decided that I could not bear for one of them to get hit by a car (since people regularly go much faster than they ought to on my road). I went into the road to usher them back toward my yard.

Only after they reached my driveway did I think to grab my camera. Here are the photos I snapped after The Goose Family Reunion migrated to my driveway.