Photos: Goose Chase!

I didn’t see any goslings at the David City park and pond today, as I’d hoped; but I did see a Big Ol’ Honkin’ Goose Fight.  One gander – let’s call him Tutankhamun – was completely convinced that the entire pond was his, his, his!!!, and he set out to prove it, too.  He flew all the way across the lake to chase another goose – let’s call him Tatum – that was calmly minding his own business on the opposite bank.  With a ferocious flurry of feathers and frantic honks, Tutankhamun chased Tatum into the water, where the fight raged on.  The pursued goose dove, and the pursuing goose dived after him. 

The water had almost calmed before one popped up.  The other came up shortly, and the chase was immediately on again.

Tatum, who’d just been trying to live his little goosy life, swam for dear life and managed to get far enough from Tutankhamun’s sharp, snapping tomium, flailing wingslaps, and kicking claws that he was able to take flight.  With his concentration solely on escape, he flew straight at me as I stood alongside the lake snapping pictures.  I vaguely wondered if I should move out of his flight path, but the photo opportunity was too great to pass up; so I went on standing there, pressing the shutter button. 

Fortunately, Tatum saw me before it was too late, avoided me, and proceeded on down the lake to the other end.

Meanwhile, Tutankhamun’s attention then focused on a couple of other geese he was determined to eradicate.  They – let’s call them Gander and Goosey McGooseface – were strolling harmlessly along the banks of a little island in the middle of the pond.  It being about noon, they were probably looking for some tasty snails and worms, with a bit of barley and sedge on the side.

With a ferocious hiss and a frightful honk, Tutankhamun interrupted their lunch.

Mr. and Mrs. McGooseface, however, were of sturdier cloth than that first hapless patsy.

Together, they stood their ground.  Quite the cacophony, ’twas.  Even the turtles along the shoreline stood high on the rocks (or each other’s backs), craned their turtly necks, and watched the show.  A dog in a passing SUV stuck his furry head out a window and stared, too.

Tutankhamun, effectively routed, went off to tend his feathers in another part of the lake.