snow goose saga: part 4

the day went on, and that rage-filled guy with the stick never came.  it was a relief.  i wasn't sure what i would have done had he seen the goose napping in my grass, had he wanted to hop my fence and pound that goose into oblivion.  but i do know it wouldn't have been pretty.  my hunch is, he wouldn't have won.  he would have run away screaming bloody murder.  because i do have a dark side, a fierce and protective mother lioness in there.  when tempted, she will pounce.  not to mention, i happen to prefer the company of animals to humans, thank you very much.

the day went on, but we were all pretty shook up by the turn of events.  we couldn't shake that creepy feeling.  was the goose dangerous?  not to us.  but it was a wild animal, and that was inarguable.  i watched as the ducks and goose started to bicker over access to a water bowl.  as an answer, i filled a large enamel roast pan.  the goose promptly got in, one foot and then another, until it was swimming....sort of.  this is ridiculous, i thought.  the goose filled the entire baking pan in a moment of dumb irony.  and then, in an attempt to dip down and bathe, the goose flipped entirely upside down!  it was awfully awkward, and all too apparent that the goose needed a water body, not just a twenty inch roast pan.  i picked it up and set it in the ducks' pool.  there, it bathed much like the ducks do, fluffing and dipping and flipping all about, splashing water everywhere.  it was a lovely sight, but even the kiddie pool seemed too small for that growing young goose.

the goose, freshly cleaned, got out and began preening.  pato and gonzo, curious as to what this bird was doing in their pool, this was their turf after all, approached the goose.  more confident than ever, the goose reached out and bit pato's hind feathers.  and at that moment, it was clear that the goose had the strength to seriously injure one of our ducks if it wanted to.  we had to do something.  we had to take the goose somewhere.

we studied our options.  wolf hollow wildlife sanctuary?  too far away, and the bird wasn't injured.  Cornet Bay, where we knew there were lots of resident geese? still too far... it seemed like the closer the better, considering that the goose might be on its home turf.  James had a hunch that someone local had released some juvenile geese for future hunting seasons.  We settled on the mouth of the Samish River, where we knew there were some domestic geese living, and good habitat to boot, put the goose into a kennel, and hopped in the van.