Mr Goose Update

Yesterday I decided to go out in the morning this time, hoping that the hour would make a difference in the missing Mrs. Goose's schedule. Though my prior visits were midday and afternoon, it wasn't much cooler at 9:30 AM. The sunlight was such that I could, for the first time, see through all the dense underbrush on one side of the center island.  I searched for signs of her even though I know their home is on the back, where the ground remained shrouded. No luck.

The alarming thing is that I didn't see Mr. Goose this time either!  Oh woe is me.  

I did see the other two, who honked their usual greeting and swam all the way across the lake to take a few pieces of bread from my hand. I ended up walking the distance over to where they usually hang out and didn't see either of them.

On the way home I attempted to comfort myself by thinking my timing has been bad, or that she's indeed sitting on a nest, though I've known them together for two plus years yet never seen them with goslings.  I wondered if they got fed up and flew off to one of the other bodies of water that I have seen waterfowl at... but why would she go first and he stay behind for a week? Did she die and after a few weeks then he decided to fly off? Or did something happen to him too now?

In reading more about them I learned they make good meals...  is it possible that someone actually nabbed these birds to cook up? There's an awfully large mix of cultures in Houston that might find that to be quite normal.

I stopped two uniformed park people in a golf cart driving by and asked if they knew of the geese (they did) and had noticed she was gone.  Had they heard she was found dead or sick? They had no news of such a thing. 

Guess I have to hold out hope that Mrs. Goose is sitting on a nest, or this heat is just too much for her, and at the unfortunate timing of my visit, Mr. Goose -- albeit for the first time --was deep in the center island where they made their home, keeping her company.   

WOO HOO!

Today I got this in an e-maill:

"Good news! Your patience has paid off. Carnivores is looking for Keeper Aides (insert little happy dance here). When would be a good time for you to come in for an interview?"

Though I am training to be a docent, which is spread out over 10 months, and once done, requires that I give about 60 hours of volunteer work a year, I wanted even more to work as a keepers aid. You get to actually be near and care for a certain species behind the scenes. That will mean I give an additional 96 hours a year.

I had signed up to work with birds & waterfowl (since I've gotten so much interaction with them here and would now like to raise some when I own some property), and the big cats (since when do you ever get to work near lions, tigers, jaguars, cougars and mountain lions......?).

I LOVE cats, but I actually was doing so much reading on the birds and have been able to observe and interact with them so much more in the park that I was kind of leaning towards working with them.  The big kitties sleep 20 hours a day it seems, and one slip up and I could get eaten, lol, but scooping their poop is hardly the task of those working with elephants, for example. Always a bright side!  Anyway, I'm thrilled, but I just have to switch gears in my head.

Shifts BEGIN at 7 AM ( I am not a morning person!)... but the joy of being with animals, helping others appreciate them and hopefully, get interested in protecting them and their environment makes all the rest a non-issue.  On top of it I get great training and experience without having to go back to college.  I figure after working with celebrities for the last 30 years, wrangling very large man eating animals at the crack of dawn will be a breeze.

Fast Facts

I learned that the grackle is unique in that they dip whatever morsel they've found in water before they eat it.  I watch them do this all the time with the bread I throw them, but I figured they did it because it was too hard/stale, lol.

I tried to get a picture of a fledgeling doing this Saturday, using a rain puddle, but she was too skittish and I could not get close enough with only my iphone for a camera.  I'll keep trying though.

Until then, I found someone got movies of this and posted it on YouTube.

I'm jealous but 'til I can get my own movie of it, I'd rather you see it. Grackles in Houston have much longer tails than these.

Forest Yoga

It's been soooo hot that squirrels were laying on the ground outstretched, which makes them look all the more adorable.  Here is a video of the little girl squirrel that Mr. Bigballz was chasing. I gave her a cashew and thank god I kept shooting because she took it to a shady spot and spread out.  When I tip toed around to get a better view, she stopped for a moment to look at what I was doing, and, comforted, went right back to it. Didn't flinch even as I got about 4 inches from her face.   These creatures amuse me to no end!

I'm Worried

I have not seen Mrs. Goose the last four trips to the park. Granted, when I first saw Mr. Goose, and for several subsequent visits, he was a seeming bachelor. But one day I saw him with a very feminine, very pretty gander, who has not been far from his side ever since. They swim together, eat grass in the fields together, come up to me to get bread together. If she is done and he eats longer, she'll stand by for a bit but nags him and gives him little nips in his side til he heads wherever she wants to go. They are definitely mates. And Geese mate for life. Oh where has she gone?

It is July and very hot. At first I hoped that she was just cooling off in the shade of the trees on the center island. I also wondered if she might be sitting on a nest, though it seems doubtful that this would be the time of year for that. (I've read everything I can find on Chinese Geese but there are no straight answers about WHEN they mate, or IF they do under these conditions -- apparently they are only found in Asia, so I wonder how the heck not one but now four have been living at our pond).

The new pair of geese are usually in the vicinity of Mr. and Mrs. G, but he is usually making it clear that this is HIS property, and his lady and he get to eat from my hand before the other two. Now I see him hanging around them, and they eat first. I make a point to feed him first anyway, and well, asking him softly where Mrs. Goose has gone.

I will keep you updated, but for now, I'm praying she's OK.

This Squirrel's Got Cahones

BIG ones, quite literally, attractively highlighted by dark black fur. This picture just does not capture it -- er, them --well enough but I wanted to leave the guy some dignity.

He was chasing a little girl squirrel around in circles. Charming how they play like this, I thought, so amusing, so very Chip and Dale (I know, they were chipmunks, but whatever...). I got closer to shoot a mini-movie of them to put here but of course the minute they saw me they broke apart, more interested to learn if I had any almonds or cashews for them.

That's when I noticed that he has plenty in the nuts department.