The Dangers of an Observer Becoming Too Emotionally Attached

For me it’s difficult not to get attached to the animals I have been observing.  Such long-term scrutiny means personalities in each of the Canada geese emerge.  I fear that some bias may enter although I try not to let it.

However, there are events that can put an observer’s head back on straight pushing the emotional heart back where it belongs.

Humans have the ability to put differences aside and come together as a cohesive group when emergencies arise.  Apparently Canada geese can do the same thing.

From my window early this morning I saw some strange behaviors by a few geese which of course “forced” me to put down my coffee and investigate.  There were just six walking along the slope from a point on the lake toward my property staying at least 10+ feet from the water’s edge.  Normally all of the large group are together.  Unusual to see so few.

Two of them came up to the foraging area where I had placed corn patches, but four stayed down by the water.  Again, unusual.

Then I noticed a group of maybe eight or so plus one single across the lake high up on the slope.  They saw me, heard the sound of the corn pail, but didn’t come.  Also unusual.

Studying the four near the water I saw they were at alert and looking out over the water.  One was quietly honking and a couple of times one in the group across the way would honk back.  What was going on?

I quickly learned ….

 

It’s been my concern since we moved here in 2013 that an alligator would eventually visit our lake.  It’s full of fish and turtles and visited by many birds.  There are also some neighborhood cats that roam its shores.  And now with my field study being conducted in my backyard as well as elsewhere, I’ve had worries for “my” geese.

Perhaps a half hour later the geese across the way flew in.  They landed on the water near shore (because geese prefer liquid landing areas since they don’t land as nicely on hard surfaces), but got right out of the water.  They were not interested in foraging for corn and stayed at alert on the slope.

About a half hour after that Jabari the African goose came walking into my yard from across the street.  She was alone – the very first time I have ever seen her alone.  About 40-50 feet behind her came a large group from the same direction.  However, Jabari walked right through the corn patches to the slope, and there she found her “Six-Pack” – they had been the group that had flown in.

I can’t help but feel badly for Jabari because I knew the day would come when her charges would take flight and leave her behind.  I don’t know if she can fly, maybe she can, but I’ve never seen her try to get off the ground nor even flap her wings.  That day has come.  And I realize that as a researcher I have to put the heart away and concentrate on unbiasly observing new behaviors that may now come forth since Jabari’s responsibilities are lessened.  How will that change the way she behaves?

But back to the alligator …

When Jabari arrived on the slope I could see that she immediately knew the alligator (or a danger) was lurking.  Whether it was the body language of the other geese or if they communicated to her in some other way, I don’t know.  However, by that time the alligator was about 20 feet off shore, and Jabari was thirsty.  So, she went to the edge for a drink, never taking her eyes off the alligator.  Fascinating that her action prompted movement by others especially the “Six-Pack”!  Some went to the water for a drink and others gave up their statue-like stillness and moved.

Once done drinking, Jabari led the “Six-Pack” and others away from the water and to the corn patches.  However, shortly thereafter their eating was disturbed by something I did not see nor hear.  Jabari honked loudly, and all the geese gathered together in a large group on the slope, looking out on the water.  Just a few minutes prior they had been beating each other up arguing over food, and here they were solidified as a group.

It’s now about lunchtime.  I’ve been observing all morning mostly from a window so that I would not disturb the geese from their natural predation-avoidance behaviors.  I wanted to go out and throw rocks at the alligator to encourage it to move on, but that intervention on my part would have upset the natural order of things.  These are all wild animals who are either predators or prey, and that’s how nature works.

I couldn’t even intervene and convince the two American Black Ducks to move higher up on the slope.  They were hanging around the geese, as were some ibises, but the ducks were just too close to the water.  And the alligator knew it.  As the whole group, including the ducks, were slowly making their way to another neighbor’s slope, the alligator was floating along with them about 4 feet from shore maintaining a bead on the ducks.

I don’t know where the alligator is now, but I’m guessing he’s elsewhere on the lake.  Although no birds are in the water – geese are not swimming, ibises are not wading – I suspect he’s not far off.

The two ducks are safely resting in the shade of a big tree in my backyard.

This is all a good reminder to me that I must leave Mother Nature to her designs no matter the costs to my heart.  As it is, for the past week I have not seen the separate six geese who never joined the big group, and my big group decreased from 54 to 52.   I’ll never know what became of these geese.  I have to remember that’s how life is and how it should be.

Intermission

I adore Florida, but sometimes the weather isn’t cooperative.  I don’t mind the heat and humidity, but it can curtail the amount of time I can spend outside observing.  Staying inside and writing, the daily lightning and thunder storms mean shutting down the computer – the last thing I need is for the computer to fry.

It’s July 19th and I’m currently working on six postings to be uploaded when the drafts are complete:

Blog Six: Behaviors in Foraging Areas

Blog Seven: Favored Locations

Blog Eight: Mates and Parenting

Blog Nine: There Are Many Times of Peace and Tranquility

Blog Ten: Signaling and Communication

Blog Eleven: Scholarly Research to Support My Observations

For most, the text is done, and it’s a matter of adding videos, photos, and other such tidbits of media.

The above posts catch me up to date with everything I’ve observed over the past two years, and the entries to follow will recount my most recent observations, and I will apply what I’ve learned in the Animal Behaviour MOOC class to what I am seeing.  Specifically, I’ve noticed the goslings are even more independent and the parental apron strings are even longer.  I’ve also seen that in the mornings the whole group doesn’t arrive — small subgroups are now coming alone, and it can sometimes take up to two hours for the entire group to be here.  And the “entire group” is now down to 52.  I haven’t been able to figure out which 2 are no longer coming here.  I am also intrigued by the different strategies the geese use – there truly are games played out by “Hawks” and “Doves” and “Under-the-radars” – and I’d like to explore Game Theory more.

My original goal still holds – what to do about the Canada geese in my neighborhood.  I’m still planning to test my hypothesis, that the numbers of Canada geese in a location could be decreased, and those that remain could be limited to specific areas in that location by negatively changing the qualities of the resources (food, resting, mating, nesting) to create a less desirable environment.

Stay tuned!

Blog Three: Identifying Individuals (Part 2)

When this season’s Canada geese started arriving in early April – April 14^th to be exact – they traveled and stayed together as a distinct subgroup.  At first it was 3 families, and then more small groups of “singles” arrived and formed new subgroups.

For a while these subgroups were fixed, but over the course of the past few weeks some of the “singles” have been rearranging themselves and subgroups have been changing.

But for the most part, The Families subgroup usually stays clumped.

The “Six-Pack” (2 parents, 6 goslings, 1 African goose)

 April 26th

 May 27th

 July 2nd, two of the “Six-Pack” with Jabari (African goose)

 

The “Fours” (2 parents, 4 goslings)

 April 25th

 May 27th, the “Fours” with a parent (size difference apparent)

 July 2nd, the “Fours” with a parent (not much size difference)

 

The “Twos” (2 parents, 2 goslings)

 May 27th, the “Twos” with both parents

 May 27th, a “Two”

 July 2nd, the “Twos” with Mom

 

The Plus Four subgroup: 4 single geese that tag along with The Families.  Included in this subgroup are Old Man and Onesie Puppy Dog and two others.  Whether these four comprise 2 mated pairs, I can’t be sure.

 

The Ten subgroup, 10 “singles” or pairs (not sure if there are pairs) were at first a distinct subgroup, but in the last few days their numbers have been ranging from 8 to 12.

The Minglers are the remaining 21 geese that have not been a specifically cohesive subgroup – they tend to clump in small numbers or each tries to mix in with other subgroups.  They’ll even hang on the fringe individually alone.

The Families subgroup is in the foreground (left to right): the “Six-Pack” with Jabari, the “Fours”, the “Twos”.  Behind to the left of the tree are The Plus Four, and then some of The Ten and The Minglers.

The question is why bother identifying individuals when my goal is to convince geese-dislikers to accept the group as a whole (the let’s-cohabitate-harmoniously thing)?  In the “big picture” it doesn’t seem to matter, but it really does.  To understand how the group operates as a whole, I need to know each individual working part.  Who are the leaders?  Do they share leadership responsibilities?  When it’s time to leave my backyard and the “let’s go” head rolling begins, which one(s) make that decision and why?  What are the family dynamics?

A behavior that I truly need to understand is why is it that when they are eating in the patches of corn I’ve set out they fight and bicker and chase

… quite frankly they are very mean to one another and I find a lot of downy butt feathers strewn about …

 

 

 

but when it’s time to leave they amicably form a tight parade and there’s a mass exodus.

CANADA GEESE PARADE

Blog Two: Identifying Individuals (Part 1)

As unique as our fingerprints, so are the white “chin straps” on Canada geese.  The problem is – like with fingerprints – in some cases sophisticated technology is needed to see the teeny tiny variations.  Therefore, although I can easily see some differences, it’s with much chagrin to accept the fact that I won’t be able to identify each and every one by sight solely because of chin strap.

CHIN STRAPS

 Some very different

                  

       

Others with close similarities at quick glance

                                   

However, their feet can be very different – some have holes (varying in size and number), some have edges nibbled, some feet have fat or skinny toes.  Most times I simply look at feet to identify individuals.  But that can change with time – fish and turtles will continue to nibble on geese feet.  So, the perfect foot today may have its edges nibbled by tomorrow.

FEET

 

                       

Yellow tinge still lingers on gosling legs and feet

                                        

And some geese have “perfect” feet with no holes nor nibbles

 

 

Sexing Canada geese is also difficult because males and females have identical plumage unlike other water fowl in which the female might be a camouflaged brown and the male brightly feathered (like mallards and mergansers).  One of the main differences between male and female Canada geese is size – males tend to be about 10% larger (which isn’t much of a visual difference – and I’m not putting any of them on a scale).  However, size can be a tricky thing since young males are smaller than adult females, and some females can be bigger than other females.

I’ve read in a number of places that the shape of tail feathers can determine gender – purportedly male tail feathers are rounded and a female’s are pointed.  As well, there’s supposedly a difference in the bills with the male’s being more bulbous at its end.  Truthfully, I am not seeing these differences at all.  When my goose numbers were very small and only included three families, I could distinguish between the males and females not only by body size, but also by behaviors (and later I’ll talk about Mr. Fours “fondly” called Nasty Pants.)  Looking at the bills and tail feathers of the dads and moms then, and now at my current flock, to the naked eye I see zero differences in bills and tail feathers.  Maybe I’ll get out a magnifying glass.

RANDOM TAILS

 

Tail feathers can be squashed close together (as in the above left photo) or fanned out (above right).  A goose is not confined to one way or the other, and it seems to depend on some factor – his or her mood or activity (walking, foraging, preening, dropping “presents”, etc.) or interaction with others or because of overall group dynamics (chaos or peace).  I’ve only observed the differences, but haven’t figured out a reason.

However, regardless if close together or fanned out, it’s still hard to see any differences.

 

Currently there are 60 geese in our neighborhood, and it can be difficult to identify individuals since they’re almost always together.  But six are relatively easy – they’re a separate and distinct group that rarely if ever joins the large group.  (They visited my backyard only once.)  The remaining 54 are usually always together swimming, resting, grazing, and travel from water body to water body en masse.  Within this large group are subgroups, and if I can identify at least one in a subgroup, I can presume the others of that subgroup are close by.

So, more information to follow.  And oh yes, I do have some cute baby photos …..

 

First Blog: Why Am I Doing This??

What to do with so many Canada geese??  Make the best of it!  And it’s not a matter of the proverbial “make lemonade when handed lemons” because I’m not starting with something sour nor distasteful.  From a behavior standpoint, Canada geese are amazing creatures.

Not everyone enjoys watching wildlife like I do, and that’s okay.  For some, the presence of certain species are an annoyance, and I can understand that.  However, what isn’t acceptable are the methods some people want to use to rid their spaces, and the whole world if possible, of these animals for no other reasons than selfish ones.  Within acceptable limits, the better choice for Mother Earth is to live harmoniously with animals – hopefully we are all in agreement about that.

Canada geese are one of the love-them-or-hate-them animals.  They tend to take up residence in human territories – neighborhoods, golf courses, parks, and so forth – and they do leave a mess.  No debate about that.  Many people are afraid of them because their hissing and charging can be intimidating.  True, a hissing geese with neck and wings outstretched charging right at someone can make the person back off quickly (and more about that in future blogs).

If it’s the majority’s sentiment that these birds have to go, there are humane and ethical ways to encourage the geese to live elsewhere within the legal rules of what’s possible regarding migratory birds.  But – and this is a Big But – what has to be completely understood, and this fact is ignored by most, is that simply removing one group of “nuisances” just opens up a vacancy to attract a new group unless steps are taken to make the location undesirable.  These steps can be aesthetically unpleasing in a HOA neighborhood in which the homeowners association covenants require certain standards.

One of the biggest “problems” in our neighborhood is that our ponds and lakes are very healthy.  The aquatic and shoreline vegetation is an attractor to the geese and ducks, as well as to herons, ibis, and spoonbills because a healthy body of water also supports a variety of fish and amphibians – delectable foods.  Another attractor is that our bodies of water are essentially safe havens for all of them.  The grass is neatly mowed right to the water’s edge and the birds can easily see there are no lurking dangers hiding.  Except for turtles that prey on small goslings, on rare occasions an alligator, raccoons and opossums that eat eggs, and a loose dog here and there, the only constant dangers to the geese are humans.

The question is how can humans and Canada geese cohabitate?  The field study I’ve been doing for two years, and more in depth beginning this Spring of 2015, is to find a solution that satisfactorily resolves the issues that geese-dislikers have and at the same time does not anger the geese-likers who enjoy their presence.  Harmonious cohabitation (not only between geese and humans, but also between geese-likers and geese-dislikers) comes at the price of compromise.

First things first is to understand the Canada geese – what they prefer for food, where they like to rest during the day and to wait out the night, the routes they take between water bodies, and the dynamics of group behaviors.  An important part of this is learning to identify individuals which isn’t easy because at quick glance they all look so much alike, and my presence tends to get them moving – it’s like trying to count leaves on a tree on a breezy day.

I try to visit our thirteen lakes and ponds at least twice a day to do a head count and to observe what the geese are doing.  I record the information I’m collecting on data sheets.  When possible I take photos, videos, and audio recordings.  And while I’m out on these drives I make a point to stop and say hello to any homeowners who are out just to let them know what I’m doing and that I’m not casing the neighborhood to find a good score.

So, besides the fact that I happen to really like Canada geese, it’s my goal to preserve their safety here … and the sanity of my neighbors.

The above are the Six-Pack and their protector Jabari Kikao, an African goose that appeared one day, and has stayed.  Can’t wait to blog more about Jabari (aka Mother Goose) and “her” goslings and the rest of the flock.