A goose war, against an almost unseen enemy.

I could hear them coming over with loud calls and got them landing.
067.JPG

Oh yes, something was wrong, as normally when the geese are so loud, someone, or something has invaded their territory.

But looking around, no enemy could be seen. There is a big flock of geese that lives at the river down the road, and occasionally some of them would fly into the territory of the pair that breed and live here. Let me tell you that geese can get terribly loud, especially the Egyptian geese. The female has a nest somewhere below and we seldom see the male and the female together unless the female warns the male about intruders. Then they will both get up together and sing their loud war songs.

The female was on her way up to the top of the roof.
071.JPG

The male joined her and look how upset they were.
072.JPG

Almost a war dance by the female at the right.
073.JPG

And the male just continued his singing.
076.JPG

Ah! To me the unseen enemy arrived, and the goose took off to chase it.
083.JPG

There it was, and you can see by the incomplete black spot on the chest that it was still a young goose.
058.JPG

I didn't blame it for making a quick gettaway, as the approaching adult male goose can seriously damage it.
061.JPG

Sometimes it is better to run away, than to stand and fight, as then one can always fight on another day. I know that somebody said this, and it is so true. Some dummkopfs will stand to fight against impossible odds, and they will pay dearly for their wrong decision. But the wise will turn the other cheek and get on with their lives. It was also said that one should heap praise on the heads of one's enemies, as eventually it will become hot coals on their heads. It just reminded me about these sayings when I watched the actions of the geese today, and I think that the young goose made the correct decision. To suffer a broken leg at that young age will result in a terrible life for the fleeing goose, had it decided to stay. And so, it was a very wise choice to rather flee.
Such is life.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and the story.

Photos by Zac Smith. All-Rights-Reserved.

Camera: Canon PowershotSX70HS Bridge camera.

Thank you kindly for supporting this post.



0
0
0.000
34 comments
avatar

Rumpus they kick up when disturbed is amazing. Know your limits when still a teenager, good he got out of the way.

Animal kingdom fully understands, 'spare the rod spoil the child' 🤣

!LUV to you and Marian
!PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

Things are wild here, and we now even have a speckled pigeon with only one foot. No idea what happened to the other foot.

Nature knows the value of discipline.

!PIZZA and !LUV

0
0
0.000
avatar

Plastic caps, gut, milk/bread tags all a menace to birds. Bright clear sunny day here, hope the weekend is giving you a treat as well.

0
0
0.000
avatar

So sad what's going on in nature, as the soiled rivers become death traps for our wildlife.
Weekend was good, and thankfully tomorrow is again a public holiday.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Never known humans extreme lack luster in attitude as is revealed currently. Dirt everywhere, attitude toward natural resources shows how stupid people really are.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Terrible sights to see in some of the rivers here, and also up north. The Vaal dam is currently in flood and tons of rubbish will have to be cleared up. Scary what is happening to the rivers.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Water drags everything down to the sea, those living near river banks always stand peril in rising water. Towns washed out has been devastating with higher rains this year.

0
0
0.000
avatar

So true, and Bloemhof is in serious flooding trouble, as they have opened more sluice gates at the Vaaldam. Btw. all the places downstream will be in trouble.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Countryside up there exceptionally flat, water goes everywhere when sluice gates are opened.

0
0
0.000
avatar

News is full about the carnage downstream.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Locals keep asking the same questions, why sluice gates are not opened slowly one by one. Opening so many always causes flooding, Bloemhof Dam 117% full this becomes a domino effect all the way downstream.

0
0
0.000
avatar

That question has been asked a million times. I think that they do not expect the dam to fill overnight, but with the latest heavier rainfall, the dam level shot up to 120% full. Now that is tons of water, and if the dam wall breaks, then nothing downstream will remain standing.
Yeah, there is big trouble at the Bloemhof DAM.

0
0
0.000
avatar

When you see videos on Augrabies Falls thumping, everything upstream must be very full from Caledon and Vaal rivers as rains have been heavy North of the borders as well.

Then water shedding everywhere as no one with the right credentials has a clue on what to do, not maintained and looked after what was handed over on a silver platter.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Yeah, the in-laws also have a lot of rain in Guateng, and it always troubles me that so much rainwater runs down to the oceans. No new dams are in the planning, and the population continues to grow.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Old dams are not being maintained either, planned dams are years behind schedule!

0
0
0.000
avatar

A very sad story, and it will become urgent to sort it out, if it's not too late already.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Should not happen, hopefully some time soon people start putting in effort to actually do something.

0
0
0.000
avatar

It all depends on what happens on the political front, as a decision has to be made.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Political front is too busy meddling not allowing proper engineers to tackle any problems.

0
0
0.000
avatar
(Edited)

PIZZA!

$PIZZA slices delivered:
joanstewart tipped papilloncharity
@papilloncharity(7/15) tipped @pavelsku
papilloncharity tipped maiasun84
papilloncharity tipped joanstewart

Come get MOONed!

0
0
0.000
avatar

What a wonderful shots!!! Your photos convey this mating ritual, somewhere between warlike and romantic, so well. It's been a great opportunity to witness it, and I thank you for sharing it with us.

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you, and the males in wildlife would die to defend their females. A great lesson for the human males to learn, as then no females will get hurt.

!PIZZA and !LUV

0
0
0.000
avatar

The first photo looks quite action-packed and dramatic. Excellent moment 👍

0
0
0.000
avatar

Thank you and it was indeed a wonderful show to watch. !PIZZA

0
0
0.000
avatar

The second picture looks cool, a beautiful couple standing proudly on the roof. Their poses are full of confidence. Their expressions while singing also look cute.

0
0
0.000
avatar

What a beautiful moment ❤️ you click.. i always respect a photographer thinking ..

0
0
0.000