Family Fued

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 78817028 - Canada Goose; Walton County, Georgia. May 15, 2018.

If you’ve been in a wetlands habitat or park in the spring, you’re probably familiar with the honking and hissing goose. I’ve been walking a pond or marsh for some wildlife photography and casually ignoring the geese while they ignore me. But unknown to me, their nest lay concealed in the reeds and I step too close. The goose gloves come off and its fighting time! If the female is on the nest, the ganger is usually standing guard nearby. Both parents will aggressively charge anyone that edges too close to their nest or young. Usually, the only injury sustained is to the weak-nerved human that trips and falls while running away.

This afternoon I observed a real goose fight. It was a bit different than the usual goose-to-human aggression: it was a family fued! Two Canada Goose families were resting near each other in the shade on the northern end of the pond. One family had small chicks, while the other had older, chicken-sized young. I didn't think I was that close, but as I approached, all of the the goslings in both families were startled and ran down into the pond, the two families of goslings mixing together.

Almost immediately, one of the parents of the smaller goslings began to chase and attack the larger goslings. This prompted a parent of the larger goslings to fly over and attack that adult! In a flash, other nearby adult geese flew over to join the fight. It all lasted about two minutes – splashing and honking and hissing - until both families sorted themselves out and swam into the pond in their respective family groups.

© Photographer: William Wise | iNat Observation: 78817026 - Canada Goose; Walton County, Georgia. May 15, 2018.

Walton County, Georgia May 15, 2018

• Cloudy, high 77°; 50% chance of afternoon storms
• Sunrise 6:33 AM, sunset 8:26 PM
• Day length: 13 hours, 55 minutes
• New Moon

הועלה ב-מאי 15, 2022 12:08 אחה"צ על ידי williamwisephoto