RUMFORD — As I sit at my computer desk, warmed by our small but effective wood stove, I think about sore muscles from shoveling more snow so I can get into the geese and duck pens.

I just checked on my geese. Three of my small flock are out and about, wandering around, munching on twigs, but staying pretty close to home.

Only my wonderful Emden girl, Julia, has decided to stay in the pen and munch on the bread scraps and corn that fill their food dish.

Ossie, Gossie and good old Seb are the adventurers, particularly Seb. When I go out in the morning to feed and water all my wonderful feathered pets, I often find him sitting on the back stoop, keeping an eye on his realm.

He’ll be at least 15 years old this summer — if not older — and I hope he makes it through at least another year. He’s the last of my original geese that I bought so many years ago. His brother, Sam, was killed by the biggest raccoon I have ever seen, and his sisters, Sally and Susie-Q, have died of unknown causes, although I have my suspicions.

Seb has fathered most of my other geese, including my fabulous Finny, who seems to grow more beautiful by the day.

Finny is at his height of beauty and strength. His grey and white, long Sebastopol feathers seem to grow more beautiful each day.

Shamus’ feathers have changed a bit, too. He is no longer solid white, but instead has splotches of gray along his neck and head. Very distinctive.

Chances are that if any goose eggs are fertilized this year, the resulting goslings will be Finny’s or Shamus’. Although there are other male geese in the large flock, those two beautiful boys seem to have dibs on the females.

So far this winter, no wild critters have come too near to the geese or duck pens. I keep a close watch on any tracks that may appear that shouldn’t be there.

Their greatest nemesis is the raccoon, and I believe most of these masked critters are still in semi-hibernation mode, hopefully.

Finny tells me each morning in no uncertain terms that he wants out of the pen. He waddles right up to the gate, presses his lovely beak against it and announces his desires. However, that won’t happen for a couple of months yet.

I have a real aversion to tromping through the snow that gets into my boots when I have to retrieve them. So although they might be happier wandering around, they’ll have to wait until late March or early April.

I’m also preparing to add more soft hay to the goose and duck coops.

I’m in hopes that my lovely khaki Campbells will soon start producing their yummy, nutritious eggs. I’ve had to make do with locally produced chicken eggs for a few weeks now, and I so much look forward to the much tastier duck eggs.

Spring is at least a couple of months away, and I look forward to the courting of my geese, and the fluffy results that will likely appear in late spring. The boys will start making advances toward the girls in a few weeks.

Yes, I promised I wouldn’t allow any more hatching — after all, 15 geese are quite enough. But the thought of not being able to watch the little yellow fluff balls grow into awkward teenagers, then sleek, gorgeous geese is something I can’t imagine.

Somewhere, there must be other goose lovers who wouldn’t mind having a pair wandering around their yards and protecting the household.

Guard geese — that’s exactly what they can become. They are very territorial and won’t allow other creatures to take their space. 

January is a rather dull month. Christmas and all its lovely decorations are down and stored, and the first buds of spring have yet to arrive. However, my geese add so much joy and fun to my life that January isn’t as awful as it could be.

The cheery hellos I get each morning perk up even the grayest of days and always raise my mood.

Thank goodness for geese.

Eileen M. Adams has been keeping geese for nearly 15 years and enjoys watching them grow and chatter. She may be reached at [email protected].