Gossie and Ossie hid from and then played in the snow for the first time Tuesday. These lovely gray and white geese, now 7 months old, quickly took in stride the sudden change in the weather. They, along with Seb, my old gander, and Julie, my relatively new addition to the flock, have been getting […]
shamus
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Goose flock shrinks, but remaining goslings grow
And then there were three. My gaggle of geese gives me so much pleasure as I watch them grow, form friendships and create their own groups. They preen, make friends or enemies with each other, honk when a big bird is flying overhead or when they see something in the woods. Their antics often make […]
advertisement
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
The babes are growing like weeds
Funny how many baby creatures tend to have feet far too big for their bodies.Such is the way with my five not-so-little goslings. They are now just over a month old — no longer tiny fluff balls — and their legs and feet look like they belong to year-old geese. The parents have virtually given […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
After all hope gone, six goslings hatch
I knew something was up when brothers Sam and Seb, and Sammie’s sister, Dufey, were standing quietly in front of the opening to the goose coop. The rest of the flock was quiet as well. Sure enough, as soon as I peered into the coop, there was Sammie, sitting on two fluffy, newly hatched goslings. […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Finny the Fabulous
The end of the mating season has arrived and still no goslings. My lovely old gray goose, Susie-Q, and 3-year-old Sammie continue to sit on their egg-filled nests, but time is running out. In another few days, the time will have passed for hatching. This has been a very difficult year for my geese to […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Geese tough out the cold spell
All is peaceful in the goose pen. The temperature feels like something we’d find in the tropics because the thermometer reached above freezing. Amazing. But during the past week or so, the mercury nearly fell out of the thermometer, the wind blew making it feel even worse, and I was so worried about Finny and […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Lewiston-Auburn, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Peace comes to the goose pen
I’d like to think that this is because Christmas is coming, but I know better. It seems like everyone has worked out their differences and are concentrating on staying warm through the cold winter months. Sam, who was injured by a raccoon a few months ago and then banned from the pen by the other […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Sam gets hurt; two ducks join the menagerie
There’s lots of changes going on inside and around the goose coop — not all good, that’s for sure. Sam, one of my original white, fluffy-feathered Sebastopol ganders, is not allowed inside the coop. Whenever I try to reintroduce him to the flock, he is vehemently attacked by the mighty Finny. A few days ago, […]
Posted inAdvertiser Democrat, Franklin, Oxford Hills, River Valley, The Franklin Journal
Finny forms a flock
Finny is so conflicted. As he becomes more and more a part of the main flock, he isn’t always sure whether he’ll come out of the pen with me or stay with his buds. But one thing is for sure — he is establishing his own flock, and it’s not just with his brother, Shamus. […]