On 2015-05-17 11:19 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:


>> It was a lovely park where a lot of young mothers took little kids. Do
>> you know what Canada Goose shit is like ???
>>>
>>> Sheldon's picture showed two geese and 6 babies. They were so darn
>>> cute looking too.
>>> Did you know that Geese are one of the few creatures that mate for
>>> life?
>>
>> At six babies a year that's a big increase in a flock over the years,
>
> Relatively few make it to adulthood.


I haven't been able to locate any stats on the survival rates of the
clutches, but I see lots of geese around here every spring. Then I see
lots of little goslings. They grow quickly, but the flocks don't
increase in size fast enough to reflect the number of those newborns.
Apparently, those that make it to adulthood can live 20 years or more.

FWIW, pair that nested at my neighbours pond had only one gosling the
other day. I don't know what became of them. The young'un was too young
to fly away, but the parents have flown the coop.


Last year there were ducks nesting on the island in their pond. My
neighbour was monitoring the nest for about 25 days from the time he
found it. Right about the time he figured the eggs would be hatching we
had a wicked deluge and his pond overflowed. Later on he found the
bodies of several recently hatched ducklings.