Very confused Canadian Geese

[Crazyraceguy]

There is a pond across the street from the old shop. It's fairly decent size, probably over 3 acres, and spring-fed. There are actually a few springs, that usually keep it from freezing over, though it has happened a few times. Along with the recent snowstorm, it has been bitterly cold, well below the norm. Because of the pond, calm traffic, and quite a bit of grass, there are almost always a few Canadian geese around. The size of the group varies, but there are almost always some around, usually some ducks too.
Last Saturday, there were two swans out there with them. That is something I have never seen. It was extremely cold and windy that day, before the snow blew in. They were sitting out there on the ice, with their heads buried under their wings. They looked really odd, almost like a big snowball, right near the edge of the water. Today, they were still there.

 

[PaulMarcel]

That's a lot of cobra-chickens! Would not want to make them angry,,,

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Definitely not @PaulMarcel that can be quite nasty. They've all been clustered in place, right at the edge of the liquid part of the water, which is shrinking. Normally, they roam around, crossing/blocking the road, then defying the traffic.

 

[peter halle]

Swans are even meaner than geese. I once managed a community that had a golf course. Someone decided to buy and place on the lake a couple of swans. When a golfer was filmed trying to beat off an attacking swan with a golf club at nesting time all hell broke out.

And then there were the geese that ate grass and deficated - everywhere. Well the people who lived along the lake wanted the Association to do something. Their idea was to have the geese trapped, processed and donated for the needy. The State Department of Wildlife was willing to do that at a cost of $37 per goose (back in 1997). Suddenly, when their pocketbooks would have to be opened up and dollars pried away, they decided the geese weren't so much of a problem after all.

I don't miss those days at all.

Peter

 

[Packard]

Swans are even meaner than geese. I once managed a community that had a golf course. Someone decided to buy and place on the lake a couple of swans. When a golfer was filmed trying to beat off an attacking swan with a golf club at nesting time all hell broke out.

And then there were the geese that ate grass and deficated - everywhere. Well the people who lived along the lake wanted the Association to do something. Their idea was to have the geese trapped, processed and donated for the needy. The State Department of Wildlife was willing to do that at a cost of $37 per goose (back in 1997). Suddenly, when their pocketbooks would have to be opened up and dollars pried away, they decided the geese weren't so much of a problem after all.

I don't miss those days at all.

Peter

The Town of Roslyn, on Long Island, has a pond that is part of (the largest part) a local park. Conversationally, it is called the Roslyn Duck Pond.

It also hosts swans and seagulls.

I did not know that swans were mean, but seagulls are homicidal.

There was a lone swan swimming in the pond. A seagull swooped down and pecked at the swan, flew away and repeated the attack. It did so over and over again. The swan was in the middle of the pond and beyond the reach of any of the several onlookers.

When the attack was over, there was a dead swan, a small pool of blood, lots of feathers and the seagull flew off. It was an assassination, not self-defense, not food gathering, a thrill killing. The Jeffrey Dahmer of seagulls.

In any event, each time I see an idyllic image of seagulls, I think “lie, it’s a lie”.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

Seagulls are nothing but rats with wings.

 

[Packard]

Seagulls are nothing but rats with wings.

But greatly romanticized in paintings and photos.

I was astonished with the viciousness of the attack and the unreasoned motivation for it too.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

But greatly romanticized in paintings and photos.

A lot of dangerous things are considered beautiful. Romanticizing is just a fancy word for ignoring red flags.
We've all done it

 

[luvmytoolz]

Open a bag of chips at one of our beaches and it's almost all out warfare with them!

 

[Packard]

My old workplace was just a mile or so from the Atlantic Ocean. When it came time to replace the roof, they discovered thousands of broken sea shells. Apparently the seagulls would pluck the live mollusks from the ocean and drop them on our roof to crack them open. (They did not bother to clean up after themselves either.)

 

[Michael Kellough]

My old workplace was just a mile or so from the Atlantic Ocean. When it came time to replace the roof, they discovered thousands of broken sea shells. Apparently the seagulls would pluck the live mollusks from the ocean and drop them on our roof to crack them open. (They did not bother to clean up after themselves either.)

Smart suckers…

 

[Packard]

Smart suckers…

I was impressed. It is almost like tool-using. Not many animals reach that level.

About 50 years ago I saw a wildlife show that claimed that Australian Magpies were the most intelligent bird on Earth and the only bird known to devise and utilize tools.

They demonstrated that the birds would select sticks with which they could retrieve food from a car with a partially opened window. I could not find a similar video, but this one shows that they are a very strange bird indeed.

 

[luvmytoolz]

I was impressed. It is almost like tool-using. Not many animals reach that level.

About 50 years ago I saw a wildlife show that claimed that Australian Magpies were the most intelligent bird on Earth and the only bird known to devise and utilize tools.

They demonstrated that the birds would select sticks with which they could retrieve food from a car with a partially opened window. I could not find a similar video, but this one shows that they are a very strange bird indeed.

Magpies are amazingly beautiful and clever birds that can actually recognise faces, their warble is just incredible early in the morning, nothing else like it. And they are also really nasty and vicious sons of b*****s most of the time. If you befriend one you're good for life, otherwise they'll do their best to attack and maim you, generally aiming for the head, face and eyes. My brother nearly lost an eye after an attack as they continually swoop you during breeding season.

If you want a laugh, google "extreme magpie swooping" videos!

 

[Packard]

Magpies are amazingly beautiful and clever birds that can actually recognise faces, their warble is just incredible early in the morning, nothing else like it. And they are also really nasty and vicious sons of b*****s most of the time. If you befriend one you're good for life, otherwise they'll do their best to attack and maim you, generally aiming for the head, face and eyes. My brother nearly lost an eye after an attack as they continually swoop you during breeding season.

If you want a laugh, google "extreme magpie swooping" videos!

They looked like sweethearts in the video I attached, but another video said that they were extremely territorial and enforced their territorial boundaries with extreme vigor.

 

[luvmytoolz]

They looked like sweethearts in the video I attached, but another video said that they were extremely territorial and enforced their territorial boundaries with extreme vigor.

Don't let the cuteness fool you, if they don't like you, they'll try to rip you to shreds. And if they can they go for the eyes, or the ears. They are absolutely fearless!