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It's not a wild goose! It is domestic and was raised by people! I am not interfering with all "wild" animals! I simply want to help a goose that was someone's pet and relies on people for care and not see it die a horrible death. Is that so wrong?
Well, since you ask, I'll respond to you specifically. The post you quoted was in reply to someone else.
Wild or domestic, danger is a risk for all animals not kept under constant care, such as pets in a house. Any farmer who's raised free range birds can attest to the dangers that even domesticated birds face, including predators and harsh weather.
But since you mention it. How do you know it's been "domesticated" and "raised by people?" Does it have an ID tag on it? If you're assuming domestication based on its breed, that may be a false assumption. Domesticated birds can fly the coop literally and bear offspring that live naturally.
Sometimes people interfere with animals and cause more harm than if they let well enough alone. That's even been discussed on other threads in this forum. We often mean well when we should let animals sort themselves out. Believe or not they know what they're doing. They have millions of years of evolution behind them to help them survive, even the domesticated ones. Domesticated does not necessarily equal helpless, and certainly not for a fully grown animal.
Well, since you ask, I'll respond to you specifically. The post you quoted was in reply to someone else.
Wild or domestic, danger is a risk for all animals not kept under constant care, such as pets in a house. Any farmer who's raised free range birds can attest to the dangers that even domesticated birds face, including predators and harsh weather.
But since you mention it. How do you know it's been "domesticated" and "raised by people?" Does it have an ID tag on it? If you're assuming domestication based on its breed, that may be a false assumption. Domesticated birds can fly the coop literally and bear offspring that live naturally.
Sometimes people interfere with animals and cause more harm than if they let well enough alone. That's even been discussed on other threads in this forum. We often mean well when we should let animals sort themselves out. Believe or not they know what they're doing. They have millions of years of evolution behind them to help them survive, even the domesticated ones. Domesticated does not necessarily equal helpless, and certainly not for a fully grown animal.
I been thinking the same thing as to how the OP is certain it is a domestic goose and not a feral or even a "lost" (Wrong way Corrigan) Snow Goose. NY is not very far (For a Goose) from one of the Snow Goose winter nesting grounds
A snow goose can often be mistaken for a domestic goose
Quote:
Watching huge flocks of Snow Geese swirl down from the sky, amid a cacophony of honking, is a little like standing inside a snow globe. These loud, white-and-black geese can cover the ground in a snowy blanket as they eat their way across fallow cornfields or wetlands. Among them, you might see a dark form with a white head—a color variant called the “Blue Goose.” Snow Geese have skyrocketed in numbers and are now among the most abundant waterfowl on the continent.
Speaking of domestic geese gone feral, I think I saw a quartet of feral African geese while driving in Cattaraugus County, NY. I know the area well, and I know that none of the landowners around the large pond keep geese, so they had to have come from somewhere else. They may have been mixed with Canadas (which nest on this same large pond, too) or with some other domestic breed, but they looked like the geese in this link: African Geese
It's not a wild goose! It is domestic and was raised by people! I am not interfering with all "wild" animals! I simply want to help a goose that was someone's pet and relies on people for care and not see it die a horrible death. Is that so wrong?
Contact a group or groups on this link. Even if they're not close they may know people in your area.
It's not a wild goose! It is domestic and was raised by people! I am not interfering with all "wild" animals! I simply want to help a goose that was someone's pet and relies on people for care and not see it die a horrible death. Is that so wrong?
Of course that's not wrong. I do kinda wonder how common domestic geese are around Long Island, though. It may be that this goose is a park goose and his family have been park geese for several generations. If wild waterfowl stop migrating and acting like wild waterfowl and start inbreeding for a couple of generations (which is exactly what happens to wild waterfowl that realize "Hey, we don't have to do any of this flying crap anymore! We've got a bunch of lonely old ladies that just THROW BREAD at us every day right here at the park pond! Fly south for the winter? Nah, that's for the birds, eh!") then they start to lose their distinct colorations and, over time, become all white birds that very closely resemble domestic stock. He may just be a "city boy" rather than a domestic. He may be perfectly capable of flying but has received so many handouts from people that he doesn't have any reason to think he needs to stay clear of you.
I can see that you have a good heart and want to do something to benefit this creature, but you may want to consider that the best thing you can do for him is to leave him be…
If, by chance, it turns out that this guy is a wild snow goose… Then you should know that they don't get along very well with ducks, specks or Canada geese and typically refrain from socializing with one another. Seriously.
Last edited by Cleonidas; 05-07-2014 at 12:35 AM..
The goose is gone. I don't know if someone else came to help it or it flew off or if it is deep in the marsh and woods. There are no feathers or carcass so I assume it is ok somewhere.
It is not a white goose. It is the same type of goose as farms have out here. Not all of LI is city-ish. There are a lot farms on the east end and many have this type of goose.
The goose is gone. I don't know if someone else came to help it or it flew off or if it is deep in the marsh and woods. There are no feathers or carcass so I assume it is ok somewhere.
It is not a white goose. It is the same type of goose as farms have out here. Not all of LI is city-ish. There are a lot farms on the east end and many have this type of goose.
Do you mean like an Egyptian goose or maybe a buff or toulouse? I know the goose is gone now, but I'm really curious about what it looked like now... I had a picture in my head of a white bird.
Do you mean like an Egyptian goose or maybe a buff or toulouse? I know the goose is gone now, but I'm really curious about what it looked like now... I had a picture in my head of a white bird.
That makes two of us, that were thinking of a white goose.
I did find a site with pictures of the most common Domestic geese, perhaps the OP can point out the flavor of honker he saw.
I'm not good at posting pics so here is a link to the type of goose I am talking about. It's the one in the big middle pic with brown, white and an orange beak. https://www.google.com/search?q=dome...hp%3B750%3B563
I'm not good at posting pics so here is a link to the type of goose I am talking about. It's the one in the big middle pic with brown, white and an orange beak. https://www.google.com/search?q=dome...hp%3B750%3B563
I wouldn't worry too much. The Graffman like all Graylags are quite capable of taking care of them self. Since they are from migratory stock, they often "go wild" world wide they are a very common feral goose. They will "escape" from captivity and join migrating flocks
Quote:
"The Greylag Goose (also spelled Graylag in the United States), Anser anser, is a bird with a wide range in the Old World. It is the type species of the genus Anser.
It was in pre-Linnean times known as the Wild Goose ("Anser ferus"). This species is the ancestor of domesticated geese in Europe and North America. Flocks of feral birds derived from domesticated birds are widespread.
The Greylag Goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.
Within science, the greylag goose is most notable as being the bird with which the ethologist Konrad Lorenz first did his major studying into the behavioural phenomenon of imprinting.
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