Geese

Geese are among the most commonly kept types of fowl, often found in farms with free range chickens and turkeys. Belonging to the waterfowl class of fowls, geese are often defined to be smaller than swans but bigger than ducks.

Disney’s 2005 animated feature Chicken Little featured a minor antagonist goose character named Goosey Loosey, characterized as a character who doesn’t really speak or say anything, prone to simply honk or squawk as geese are known to.

Goosey Loosey, in a sense, characterized the typical nature of the goose, given the waterfowl’s notorious tendency to be incredibly noisy, especially when in taking about a group of geese. In fact, this noisy geese characteristic is one reason why many farmers keep then around, standing up as proxies for guard dogs, who are quick to alert farmers when something is amiss in the farm grounds.

Though established to be mainstay farm animals, a number of geese facts are not as popular or well known, like the fact that they can weigh as much as 25 pounds, max. Given their known maximum weight, a number of studies also reveal that they are voracious eaters, capable of eating up to 5 pounds of grass or weeds per day, producing around 2 pounds of waste on a daily basis too.

Geese are migratory birds, and as such, are federally protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, migrating somewhere between October to March of the next year. During this season, a goose could cover a travel distance of 2 to 3 thousand miles, liable to “pond hop” in eventually arriving at their destinations.

Also, like wolves, geese are known to “mate for life”, meaning that once a goose finds a partner, that would be a male or female goose’s partner through and through, until a mate dies or gets killed.

Typically, the place where they were born is where they head to during migration season.

As migratory waterfowl species, geese are often found flying and silhouetting horizons, and have endeared as iconic birds identifiable upon sight.

Gees Video 

Goose

True Wild Life | Goose | A goose is a medium to large sized bird found in Europe, Asia and North America. There are around 29 known species of geese around the world including Canadian geese and Snowy geese. Geese mate and build their nests in order to raise their baby geese (known as goslings) in the north during the warmer summer months and the geese then migrate south in the winter to the warmer climates when the baby geese are strong enough to fly.

Geese tend to have the same mating partners for their entire lives, and if not all of it then most of it. The bond between male and female geese partners is very strong and they will often spend most of their time together with both the male goose and the female goose building the nest and raising their young. Geese are omnivorous birds but mainly feed on insects, grubs, small fish and plankton in the water. Geese spend a great deal of time on the water and have special adaptations such as webbed feet which make their aquatic life easier.

Geese have a number of natural predators although, due to the size and strength of a goose, predatory animals don't always have an easy time if they fancy goose for dinner. The main predators of the goose are foxes, wild dogs, raccoons and birds that predominately prey on the goose eggs and newborn baby geese. Humans are among one of the most common predators of geese, as geese are hunted all around the world for their meat and feathers. Geese are strong and hardy birds and are known to get to old ages, even in the wild. The average lifespan of a goose is between 20 and 30 years but a number of geese individuals have been known to live for much longer.

Geese are known to have extremely strong wings as they migrate long distances every year to the warmer climates. Due to the fact that the wingspan of a goose is so large (normally one and half times the size of the goose's body), and the wings of the goose are so strong, a goose is known to be able to inflict severe damage to humans should it become threatened or annoyed! Not only do geese flap their wings to intimidate unwanted company, but they are also known to make a loud hissing noise. If these methods of defence fail, it is not uncommon for a goose to simply charge at the intruder hissing and flapping it's wings all at the same time.

The term geese is normally used to refer to these birds in general, but more particularly a female. The term gander is generally used to refer to a male. The baby geese are referred to as goslings and a group of geese on the ground is called a gaggle with geese flying in formation being called a wedge or a skein.