Goose Eggs

We have many Canadian geese that live here and hang out around the ponds, and enjoy munching on bugs in the newly mowed pastures. We think there is a raccoon or fox living under the ancient tan house (likely the original home that needs to be demolished), since the goose population has taken a sudden dive and we have found multiple places where there appears to have been a massacre with large spatterings of feathers.  

There were two goose nests at the edge of the pond with multiple eggs in them, which have since been emptied.  The dogs have known about them for weeks, but at my direction of “careful” and “leave it” they have merely inspected the nests and then left them alone.  The creature under the tan house probably helped itself to the easy snacks.

As of yesterday afternoon only very large egg remained in one of the two nests (goose eggs are the size of oblong softballs!) but the others had been broken open and eaten. Because I didn’t correct her since all the others were gone, yesterday Rizzo found that one remaining whole egg and took it.  She carried it very gently around the property for 15 minutes or so while we walked that evening, giving Pascal the stink eye every time he looked at it out asked to play with it.

Rizzo debated about burying the egg for safe keeping, she rolled it around in the grass, she carefully picked it up and set it down, she cautiously rubbed her teeth on it to assess its edibility. Finally she left it in the yard as we headed in for dog dinner, at which point Pascal snatched it.  He had it in his mouth for less than 30 seconds before he accidentally broke it, gigantic yolk and clear goo spreading all over the porch.  

The look Rizzo gave him was one of utter exasperation, “You can’t even hold it for a minute without breaking it?  I was saving that for later!”  Making the best of a frustrating situation, she ended up eating the contents and then Pascal carried around the broken half shell for a while as though to prove he wasn’t entirely clumsy. 

Between the dogs and whatever is living under the tan house we likely won’t have any goslings this spring, but it may be just as well since there are more than a dozen adults here right now and they are plenty loud and messy.