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The goose who thought he was a chicken
Topic Started: Mar 4 2013, 11:00 PM (46 Views)
Chris
New Member


THE GOOSE WHO THOUGHT HE WAS A CHICKEN

Fear gripped me as I watched the large gray goose half run, half fly, hissing and honking as he came at me. All I knew about geese was they could be mean, yet I knew I dared not run or I'd never be able to go into the field again. So there I stood trembling, a bowl of left over salad in my hand. Six feet away from me he suddenly stopped, looking at me as if to say "you are supposed to be afraid of me". I tossed the salad out, slowly and deliberately I turned my back on him and walked back to the yard. We would go through the same act twice more before I was convinced that the goose was just bluffing. Little did I know then, that under those puffed up feathers beat the biggest, most wonderful heart, or that I would come to love him as a dear and valued friend.
We had just moved into a lovely home in a tiny community in New Mexico. The house sat on 2 acres of land, completely fenced. The two acres were divided into three portions, at the back was an apple orchard, sheep pen and chicken house. The middle section was a field, barren with just a tinge of green as it was March first. We rented just the house and surrounding yard. Our landlord cared for the field and orchard, a single electric wire separated the field and yard. Five sheep, two chickens and the goose lived in the field and orchard.
Soon after the goose tried to chase me off we realized we couldn't keep calling him the goose, he needed a name. We laughingly called him Genghis Khan Goose because he thought he was a terrorist, and because he appeared to be the leader of all the animals. At his side often was a very obnoxious white chicken, she was obviously second in command and incredibly mean to her very timid sister hen. After four years alone with just the sheep and chickens Genghis had become bi-lingual, he spoke chicken and goose. It was strange to hear clucking and cackling come from Genghis as he patrolled the 2 acres. The unelectrified fence of course did not keep Genghis or the chickens out of the yard.
Genghis seemed to like the smooth cool feel of the cement patio in the back, but when the landlord discovered he was visiting so close, Genghis was banished behind the fence in the orchard. We missed him, but not for long. The chickens would come through the fence or over the gate, but Genghis was too big, so he took care of that by standing as close to the fence as he could and flapping his wings as hard as possible, he could just clear the five-foot fence. Truth be told we wanted him closer and never minded cleaning the patio every day.
The animal’s water troughs were simply barrels cut in half lengthwise. After we moved in we saw to it that they were filled twice a day instead of the every other day they had been filled before. Genghis loved his several baths a day, even in freezing weather .He would step up on the edge of the trough, teeter there for a while and then step down into the water. One morning the water had frozen solid, Genghis stepped up and teetered there a while, stepped down, slipped on the ice and gently fell on his beak. How we wished we had a video camera to film his antics.



Try as hard as I could, there was no convincing my landlord or his father (who hung out in the orchard a lot) that we really liked Genghis. The old man decided Genghis couldn't get over the fence if his wings were clipped. At the same time they kept saying, "ought to get him a mate", but they never did. So one Saturday morning we located a female goose, bought her and started for home with her in a burlap bag, the safest way to transport a goose. She was a lovely, young adult gray goose and we decided to call her Gracie .As we arrived home we could see the old man puttering in the orchard, we gave it no thought .We took Gracie out to the orchard and turned her loose. We stood there watching to see what would happen, as we stood there I saw many feathers in the field and orchard, I picked up a few and could see they had been cut down into the nerves. Then I saw Genghis, both of his wings had been cut straight almost into the wing itself. I was heartsick, for even I knew that was not the way to clip a wing. It was basically our fault, had we fenced off the patio Genghis would never have had to endure the pain and terror that he never forgot!
Gracie meanwhile was very timid and Genghis wasn't overly impressed either, who was this new interloper? The white chicken, sensing a rival was beside herself with anger and immediately set out to show Gracie who was boss. Gracie meekly accepted the punishment from the white chicken, but as the week went by Genghis and Gracie became closer and closer and soon were inseparable .The white chicken continued to hold on to her position in the pecking order. Gracie now firmly at Genghis ' side decided it was time to sort things out, took a great swing of head and neck at the white chicken. Suddenly on the spot the pecking order changed and Gracie took her rightful place as Genghis' consort. We were amazed at how quickly the white chicken's attitude changed , She became a much nicer chicken and developed a real sisterly relationship with 'Brown Hilda' the other hen. We were truly sorry when she died at a hawks talons.
Gracie had come to us already full of fertilized eggs, so very quickly she began to lay , but she hadn't had time to find a nesting spot. We wasted 3 huge eggs in our ignorance of goose nesting habits. Soon though we found no more eggs and assumed she had found a place she liked. You can imagine our shock during this time when Genghis stretching , wings up and out suddenly displayed his bare breast, not a feather remained. We knew he had done it himself, but could not understand why he had disfigured himself so .Then one day I accidentally came across Gracies nest in the orchard. There hidden in a soft gray mass of Genghis ' feathers were a number of eggs. I didn't try to count them as I backed away from the carefully constructed nest.
One day, some time after the wing-clipping incident, I stood talking to the old man about the sheep, and warning him about the nest in the orchard. Genghis arrived by my side, chattering up at me, an anxious look in his eyes, he pulled at my pant leg then chattered some more. Not understanding, I would chat back at him, and pat his head. That was when the old man, in amazement said "oh you really do like him' .Genghis continued to talk to me and pull at my pant leg, until I turned to leave the orchard. As I walked back to the house Genghis trotted by my side and it came to me what he had been trying so hard to tell me "stay away from that old man, he will cut your wings off"! At that moment I was no longer just fond of that big, goofy, wonderful goose, I absolutely adored him! Genghis never again went anywhere near the old man.



Genghis was a very greedy goose, he would eat almost anything, but his favorites were lettuce , tomatoes and bread. After four years of near starvation he would race any animal for any food, and usually win. Later when he trusted that we would always feed him he became a lot fussier, and would turn his beak up at tomatoes and onion tops.
Gracie had finished laying her eggs and had begun her month long sitting. A few days later she gave us one more egg, laying it in the sheep pen well away from her nest as if to say "enough is enough!". She would come off the nest during the heat of the day , at a full run to eat and drink. Genghis would always greet her with honks and cackles of joy ,then he would have to run with her to enjoy her company for a few moments. Usually though Genghis could be found patrolling in front of the nest. While Brown Hilda would spend hours beside Gracie "singing" to her as she sat. Thirty days after she began to sit we realized goslings were hatching, Genghis never left Gracies side until it was time to take the babies off the nest. It took us a full day (after they were off the nest) to count nine goslings, as they were continually on the move in a cloud of greenish- gray fluff. Genghis immediately loved "his" babies , he knew his real army had arrived. He was a wonderful father and soon was gosling-napping his troops taking them on walk about. Gracie would go wild until she could find the gate and catch up. Our greedy goose suddenly became self-sacrificing, any goodies offered him went to the goslings, while Genghis would stand by and almost drool. When the goslings finished he and Gracie would share the leftovers, Genghis had never shared before!
When the goslings were about two weeks old Gracie came into the yard alone, squawking in her unlovely voice. As I stepped out into the yard I could hear Genghis' deeper honk coming from way out in the orchard. Calling to my husband Ted that something was terribly wrong out back, we both started to run .I reached Genghis first and made an automatic count of goslings, there were only three! As Ted searched for the other goslings I stayed near Genghis and as he and Gracie quieted down I could hear frantic peeping, but couldn’t see the babies for the tall weeds in the orchard. Ted carefully stepped through the weeds closer to Genghis he discovered the six lost goslings in a hole as deep as his arm was long. As Ted lifted the last tiny gosling out of the hole amid much loud peeping, Genghis lost control and bit his baby’s savior on the arm leaving a large bruise on Ted’s arm. It was Genghis first and last bite, quickly forgiven because we knew Genghis was very upset. The gate to the orchard was closed that day and remained closed for the rest of our time there. Although Genghis never bit anyone again , once in a while he would accidentally nip Ted's fingers while accepting a slice of bread. Genghis and I never came close to a nip, he was much more careful with me.



As the goslings grew so did their love for their daddy, they were much more impressed with him than 'good ole mom'. When Genghis had a chance to 'chase' someone off, meaning we had turned our backs on them , he would rush over to the goslings ,stretch his neck way down and tell them how brave and heroic he was. Nine fluffy goslings would hover around him and setting off a great flurry of peeping , obviously agreeing . He was the most brave , heroic and wonderful daddy in the whole world.
One day Ted took some left over beans out to the chickens, as he walked through the field Genghis ran up and asked for a bite. The bowl was lowered to him, and he tasted. He had a fit, shook his head violently, his honk came out a gargle, he ran to the goslings to warn them not to eat it. We clearly understood when he told the goslings what an awful cook I was. Unfortunately Genghis was never as trusting about food again.
Watching the goslings we learned so many of those old sayings , " silly goose", "loose as a goose", even being "goosed" had a sound basis in reality. Even the term "necking" took on new meaning. As a preliminary to mating Genghis and Gracie would intertwine their necks in great affection . We loved watching goose games, such as the 'lettuce chase', given one leaf of lettuce, or one slice of bread one gosling would grab it and run, the 8 others chasing after him. As he ran he would bite through the lettuce and the rest of the leaf would drop. Another gosling would grab the leaf and run. To be repeated over and over until the leaf or slice was gone and another leaf was offered. It was a wonderful goose game! Genghis was much too dignified to join the game, he would just stand and watch but I swear I heard him laugh or was just a cackle? One game was very short lived, we had planted several different flowers around the yard, pansies ,snapdragons ,zinnias , sweet peas , marigolds , pinks, and some others. As the flowers came up they were tasted, if they were good , snap, there went the plant! If it wasn't good , it would be tasted the next day. Oh well we really didn't want any flowers except Marigolds and Zinnias anyway. What was left was pretty ragged too!
Our neighbors were goose watching too, and we were all stunned by just how fast goslings grow. From hatching to young adulthood takes just 2 months! And darling young adults they were, they were so sweet faced I couldn't resist any plea for goodies. Genghis had somehow conveyed to the goslings that I didn't want them on the patio, then lead them onto the patio. Very quietly they would sneak up, but after a few minutes someone would just have to let out a peep or honk out of sheer exuberance .I would go chase them off the patio and hose it down. Eleven geese on a patio can make more mess than anyone would believe. Of course it was also amazing how quickly they could go through a fifty-pound bag of feed , as well as the never-ending treats. Finally we put up a small picket fence around the patio, and the gang would stand and look wistfully at the patio. Of course that act also got them any goodie I had on hand. Much as we loved them we knew they had to go to new homes, so we put up a sign advertising we had geese for sale. There were two reasons we sold them, first was because we felt if people paid for them , they might value them more. Second was just the sheer numbers, if we kept them the next spring there could be fifty to one hundred new goslings! As the goslings sold I couldn't bring myself to ask what would become of them, but all volunteered they wanted them for pets, watch geese or for the Navajo fair.



We missed the goslings so much that we went up to our local pet store, actually the feed store and bought a tiny duckling. That little ball of fluff was named Yazzie, a Navajo name meaning small. We kept Yazzie in the house the first couple of weeks, as soon as we put him outside in a protected place Genghis immediately adopted the little duck. Yazzie might have looked funny but he was a goose and Genghis' boy! Gracie ever sensible , knew that duck was no goose and wanted nothing to do with him. One day Gracie took a swing at Yazzie with her neck and beak, I yelled "GRACIE" and she stopped mid swing and looked at me. I was so surprised , I knew geese were smarter than other birds but had just assumed they wouldn't recognize their own names. From then on I called them only by name, they came if they felt like it, which was usually because they knew I had a treat for them. Yazzie came too , but he was only following the geese, he never knew his name.
We bought a child’s plastic pool for the gang , they loved it. Genghis and Yazzie would jump in together and splash and dive, Gracie was frightened by all that joyous abandon and would wait until the boys got out of the pool, then take a very sedate bath. If Yazzie hopped back in she immediately would get out .This caused problems the following spring, as geese seem to prefer to mate in or near the water, and Yazzie couldn't bear to see Gracie get any attention from Genghis. He would interfere continually, we knew if we wanted any goslings that year Yazzie would have to be fenced away from his beloved daddy. We found a mate for Yazzie and separated them from the geese. While that helped the situation Genghis still spent much of his time conversing with Yazzie through the wire fence . After the new goslings hatched we found Gracie had laid 17 eggs, but hatched only eight. Yazzie's mate on the other hand hadn’t had all that interference, and had hatched twenty-two darling ducklings .As soon as the goslings hatched and were off the nest , Genghis took them to meet Uncle Yazzie, who hated them on sight .Several times we tried to give Yazzie his freedom, and he would quickly begin to chase the goslings and try to kill any he caught .We even tried taping his bill closed for a few minutes, but he still chased goslings. He was never reprimanded by either Genghis or Gracie, who any other times were very protective of the goslings. Yazzie would be put back into lock-up and Genghis would continue to visit several times a day.
Poor Genghis , this second brood were all his, but didn't find daddy nearly as heroic as the first brood. They were each and every one of them young Genghis', very independent and always on the run. Gracie and Genghis were forever trying to catch up to them. They would never listen to Genghis , and always chose to do their own thing. Modern kids indeed!



Each evening when Ted returned from work , he would go out to the patio for his daily chat with "Gengie', this was the highlight of Genghis' day. He would tell Ted everything that had happened through the day, being especially vocal if anything had upset him during the day. For example the day his wings were clipped he spent half an hour telling Ted all about his ordeal. Another day as I returned home I found neighbors kids in the yard terrorizing the geese with a big stick. Genghis had much to tell Ted that night. I would think over the day and usually knew exactly what Genghis was reporting, so I was able to translate.
We knew we would be moving that third spring to a large city and we weren't going to be able to take my best friend and Gracie with us. First I had to buy Genghis from the landlord, and then find homes for everyone. I gladly paid much more for Genghis than a goose was worth, but much less the value of a much loved best friend. Good homes were found for everyone except Genghis and Gracie. For them I wanted more, so I began looking for a home where they would be safe from predators, and hopefully loved as much as we loved them. A month before the move, we felt we had found the ideal home, so three weeks before we moved we put Genghis and Gracie into burlap bags to transport them to their new home. As we drove we discussed how much we would miss Genghis. Each time we mentioned his name he would become very vocal, we soon fell into a brooding silence. On arrival at his new home we turned them loose, and watched as Genghis sized up his new army three turkeys , two tall white Chinese geese, a few chickens and many ducks. Each one of the birds were pets. We visited every weekend taking favorite treats for all. Genghis would take our offerings, but he refused to come talk to us. We had put him in a bag, and he wasn't forgetting it! He'd never come near us again, and that hurt, but the new home and the new friends were perfect. I was very happy as I watched Genghis absolutely charm his new best friends .Genghis and Gracie are safe , well loved and happy. Their new best friends report that they are "a real joy". As for me, tears still form as I think about my dear friend and truly my most unforgettable character!
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Petra
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Chris it is wonderful to read about Genghis again, after all this time. I never forgot about him.


You bring all the animals perfectly to life, I feel I know them all, great story telling. It made me laugh in parts and want to cry in parts. What a beautiful creature he must have been.

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful story about your beloved Genghis. :clap :clap :clap
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Chris
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We loved Genghis like family. We tried to recreate that idyllic time some years later, it failed totally the geese we got were mean as sin.
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