One in a million shot of baby goose and the mother!

Every once in a a while you get a shot with your camera that is actually worth saving.  This is mine!  Baby geese began hatching at my house Thursday evening.  This is a long arduous process. I have an Emiden setting in one part of the compound and Goosie, this African Gray, in another part.  Goosie is a story in itself so I will cover the Emiden babies a little later.

About 5 or 6 years ago  Bret decided he absolutely had to have baby geese.  The fact that we had 20+ ducks at the time was immaterial.  So off we went to Big R for the purchase of 3 geese. I do everything living in triplicate for some odd reason that only God is privy to. Any way, the geese grew and were quite attached to us and the ducks.  As luck would have it, we had 2 ganders and the one hen.  The first 2 years Goosie would lay her eggs and I would eat them.  I called this retro active birth control.

Then the third year the biggest gander developed neurological problems and had to be put down.  I let Goosie set that year.  Her eggs were not fertile, so there was a stinking mess!  The next year I had acquired  3 pairs; 2 Chinese, 2 Emidens, and 2 more Africans. They all set, except Goosie,  and they all hatched and the ganders trampled most of them, but I did manage to grab the 6 surviving babies and take them to my friend Penny to take care of until they were feathered. While over there 2 got sick and died, one was ate by a coyote and 3 survived. When they got tired of taking care of them they brought them back. This brought me up to 10. One of the Emidens did not make it through breeding season, so down to nine.

I decided to let Goosie try this year and we were very happy when this little fellow pecked it's way out of the shell.  Bret spotted this shot and took it for me.  If you click on the picture it will get bigger and you can see the little fellow nestled in  Goosie's wing with just it's head showing.

If you are ever in my neighborhood, feel free to drop on over and check out my little farm here.  Better hurry though, because the fox is busily eating my ducks and you may not see them if you don't hurry!!

Have a good one, and happy Father's Day to all the male species, with and without feathers!

The Wily Old Fox and the Helpless Critters!

There you see part of my flock.  The seven critters on the left are what I refer to as the Seven Musk a Tears.  These seven guy and gals all hang out together.  I suspect these are the seven that were given to me when Lyn moved into town.  There are a white and a spotted that hang out; they were litter mates.  Then there are twin gray and whites, a broad banded mallard, a khaki Campbell and another spotted.  There is a renegade mallard that is lighter than all the others.  He is the one who is in love with the goose. He chases her all over the barnyard trying to kiss her.  All this to the consternation of her husband! But that is another story for another time.  The big bird on the right is an African Gray Goose.

The point I am trying to make here is that much like people, the birds in my flock tend to sort of mate for life.  They stay in the group they grew up in and like it that way.  Much like we, as humans, cling to our roots.  The difference being, we can defend ourselves and my flock is just part of the food chain.  Mother fox, you know the cute little Red Fox that is indigenous to this area, had herself 3 babies this spring.  Oh, don't we all know how hungry those babies can be!

At the height of my flockiness, I had 36 ducks and 10 geese.  This morning I counted 14 ducks and somewhere there is a satisfied family of Foxes.  It was one thing when the foxes were eating the nasty old drakes, but yesterday one of my little twins disappeared. That broke my heart. Did you ever give any thought to a duck's defense mechanism?  They waddle when they walk, they have 2 wings and a rounded beak. No defense their.  When they sense danger the stop stock still and do not move. Well, that makes no sense at all.  But it is what they do.

Some people are of the assumption that foxes hunt at night.  They may very well do that, but they also hunt during the day. They hunt whenever the food source is available. Just happens to be daytime around here.  As much as I would like to be able to stand guard over the flock, I do have other obligations.  So, I guess I am open for suggestions on what would be the best solution for all concerned here.

The foxes need to eat.  The Ducks need to survive.  Trapping the foxes on an acre of ground is almost a virtual impossibility.  Keeping the ducks inside a fox proof house is cruel and out of the question.  So, I am open for suggestions here.  Ideal would be if you would come to my house, catch the fox and take it home with you!  Right now, I have thought  and thought and my brain may explode.