They’re paired up now, on the edge of lakes and rivers, where the cattails and grasses meet the open water, and in the marsh and ponds and wet fields. Canada geese are standing, walking, feeding, and floating, two at a time.
On a chilly day in early spring, I find warmth in this recurring scene of pairing and, we’re told, devotion. Canada geese mate for life or, taking the “death do us part” to heart, until they lose a mate to illness, accident or hunter’s gun. Only then will they choose another mate, and it may be a struggle to do so.
These birds are loyal to their mates over a dozen years or more of breeding and nesting. How long has that pair I’m looking at been together? Geese begin breeding as early as two years old, and can live more than 20 years.
But how does a goose that has lost its mate find another? Does it start looking in the flocks of fall and winter when the mating pairs are only loosely connected?
I saw three geese at the lakeshore the other day. Two floated close to each other while the other walked the shoreline. Suddenly the larger of the two birds in the water spread its wings and made a flapping, seemingly mad run at the bird on shore, chasing it off a ways.
Was the bird that was chased the odd goose out? Had it lost its mate and was looking to steal another’s mate? Where would it find companionship in its spring urge to nest, in its inherent obligation to sustain the species?
Later I walked next to a cornfield where ten geese intermittently watched me and picked at the waste grain atop the moist soil. As I drew closer I could tell the birds were loosely paired, even in feeding.
The female goose will soon be on her dozen eggs for nearly a month while the male stands and swims guard. For as long as it takes. For life.
Always makes my day to read these short snippets of nature! Thanks Gresch!