maybe somebody goosed him?

Gooser 

     Well my buddy Gooser the Canadian goose whom I acquired through a trade for hay is having his fair share of troubles. Well for one I still can’t tell if Gooser is male or female. To me this is important as I either call him he or she for your convenience I guess since he has never laid eggs; my guess is he is male. So I looked it up online to see if I could find a clue as to what he or she is and again I am having as much trouble as Bruce or Caitlyn or whatever the heck that he or she is named this week. Apparently it is almost impossible to tell unless you have a mating pair of geese, and I only have one. . Physically from looking at their bodies they are very similar in all aspects with the male being slightly larger and having a rounded tail. Observations of nest building would indicate a female while defending the nest against predators is usually up to the male.

 Gooser having a hissy fit at cat outside of greenhouse

    Further testing by a vet would indicate a corkscrew penis in some type of gland I am definitely not pursuing. It really doesn’t matter. Also if I had a lot of money I could have his or her DNA read and determine his sex. And I am sure that would be 200. 00 well spent, as well it would do nothing for his sore foot.

     I noticed him about a week and a half ago limping hard on his leg and I should have intervened then.  Instead I let nature take its course and hoped he would be better. A week ago I noticed he was sitting and not moving at all and a storm was coming bringing in cold weather, as well night was coming on and Gooser not being in water worried me as that is part of their defense against coyotes. He has always been a good friend showing up unexpectedly if I was lying under the haybine cussing at a broken knife section. I would look up and he was magically there. Or in the greenhouse he would follow me around picking bugs off produce and flowers as if that was his
purpose in life.

      Usually they are mated and when I got them there was a pair,  but his buddy had 2 good wings and must have been male as he ended up back at the neighbor’s  I traded the hay for the geese in the first place. I considered this kind of sketchy but when contacted by the neighbor I just felt there was a reason he left and my guess was to find a mate. Gooser wasn’t as lucky as he had a bad wing and now a bad foot to deal with.  I kinda think he was flying and his ability to land isn’t the greatest due to his injured wing and he ended up hitting something, causing damage to his foot.

    His foot is kinda turned under, but at times now I am starting to see some movement in the leg and foot to a minor degree. I had to bring him inside as I afraid the coyotes would get him as he was defenseless against anything including me. He didn’t put up much of a fight and in ways I think he is glad to get special treatment. At first I had a small pan to put water in but I traded it for my friend Linda’s kiddy pool she had bought to place beverages in when I had my open house. That worked excellent as I placed it in my greenhouse I have attached to the back of my house that I was currently not using. It was too much too heat to grow anything, but I have one opening, opened up and it stays a mild 50 degrees I would say, plus he has the pool he is now able to jump and slide in and out at his leisure. The pool is just deep enough to allow him a chance to float around and has helped his mood as I hear him honking at me more frequently. The house is a little colder, for his comfort but I can live with it. Well he has been in here around a week and seems to be getting better and he is eating. I found if I sprinkle his food in the water, which is birdseed, it floats around and gets soaked and he eats it pretty good.

     Also I have placed straw in there and spread it around and now he has a nest he burrowed into the straw. It looks like he is in there till spring. He never ceases to amaze me when you see him up close like I am seeing him now, as I watch him go through his primping, and always watching for signs of movement on his injured leg. Sometimes just looking into his eyes and making a connection as you would a dog or a kid.

    Gooser helping me pick black raspberries. 

     What am I doing this for? I have asked that question to myself many a time. If left in the wild he would no doubt be coyote bait. Most people would knock him in the head and put him out of his misery. But he doesn’t seem to be in misery and we had a bond over this last summer with him following me around. At any time I could walk outside and yell hey Gooser and he would answer letting me know where he and the ducks were. He was a protector for my ducks and has done real well at keeping them safe since I have the largest duck population I have ever had after being down to old Mama duck and Greenie two winters ago , I now have 9 ducks I have had all summer long and are descendants of Greenie and Mama duck. Greenie being, “The what the fuck, six bucks for a duck”, duck I had wrote a story about earlier in my blog that people enjoyed.

 

 out by the pond the other day stealing duck food 

      Anyhow something is working and I am sure old Gooser is a major player in what is keeping them alive. It is only fitting I do what I can do to keep him going. Eventually I would like to rehab back to the pond but if that doesn’t happen for a while that is no major problem.  His leg and foot although being favored by him, appears to be able to move and he looks like he is getting stronger. If nothing else he is able to stand on one leg better and this allows him to go to the bathroom without messing himself up. This is important for a duck or goose as they are constantly primping.  The water is helping keep down the inflammation that I am sure he must have in his leg and foot. I think he will start moving his leg a little at a time. Nothing looks broken and I have moved it. But without an x ray it would be impossible to tell. Again I am letting nature take over. If it is broken he will probably die from gang green, but if not, and it is tendons and ligaments torn or even bruised bad he may heal as it appears he is doing. I just know I have to do what I can. He is a good goose.