This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
swirlie · 31-35
Growing up on a farm in Ontario Canada, you have never seen a sight so overwhelming as about 10,000 Canada Geese descending into a freshly harvested corn field in October, helping themselves to the spoils that never made it through the corn harvester (corn binder for the grass rooter's among us!).
An entire 500 acre field can turn from brown to pure white in a matter of seconds as the geese arrive to feed on corn and stay settled for the night, then the sky turns pure white again when they leave in the morning and their honking sound is deafening!
To be honest, we train them to fly south because geese are dumb and they don't know to fly south instinctively! True tidbit of trivia, actually! Canada Geese tend to winter in Canada and only migrate south if the snow is too deep up north.
But they're not actually as dumb as I say they are!
Canada Geese are the only flying species who can fly 'above' the clouds and stay up there for over 24 hours non-stop during their migration season, whereas no other bird is capable of flight above the cloud because it's instinct tells it to not lose sight of land below itself in the first place.
When the geese arrive over destination, they will enter a circular holding pattern until the cloud layer below them breaks up enough to where they can see the ground below the cloud, otherwise they will not descend through solid cloud.
All birds, including geese, must have visual reference to the horizon at all times or else they'll literally fall out of the sky if that visual orientation is lost, which is why they don't fly inside clouds!
That is why it is not uncommon for Canada Geese to be flying in a 'V' formation at altitudes as high as 12,000 feet, sometimes as high as 18,000' if they have to go up that high to stay in clear air with a layer of thick cloud between them and the earth.
But if 10,000 geese flew south to Mara Largo and only 1 bird made it back to Canada alive in the springtime, I don't think you'd hear any complaints us!
If you tried to have goose instead of turkey for Thanksgiving, the goose will be very tough to eat and very greasy in the pot, so I don't actually recommend it.
A point of caution however, is to never get close to a Canada Goose when it's on the ground or else it will attack you and is capable of breaking your arms or legs with it's wings, which is something we Canadians are taught early in our lives to not play chicken with a Canada Goose... because the goose will win!
An entire 500 acre field can turn from brown to pure white in a matter of seconds as the geese arrive to feed on corn and stay settled for the night, then the sky turns pure white again when they leave in the morning and their honking sound is deafening!
To be honest, we train them to fly south because geese are dumb and they don't know to fly south instinctively! True tidbit of trivia, actually! Canada Geese tend to winter in Canada and only migrate south if the snow is too deep up north.
But they're not actually as dumb as I say they are!
Canada Geese are the only flying species who can fly 'above' the clouds and stay up there for over 24 hours non-stop during their migration season, whereas no other bird is capable of flight above the cloud because it's instinct tells it to not lose sight of land below itself in the first place.
When the geese arrive over destination, they will enter a circular holding pattern until the cloud layer below them breaks up enough to where they can see the ground below the cloud, otherwise they will not descend through solid cloud.
All birds, including geese, must have visual reference to the horizon at all times or else they'll literally fall out of the sky if that visual orientation is lost, which is why they don't fly inside clouds!
That is why it is not uncommon for Canada Geese to be flying in a 'V' formation at altitudes as high as 12,000 feet, sometimes as high as 18,000' if they have to go up that high to stay in clear air with a layer of thick cloud between them and the earth.
But if 10,000 geese flew south to Mara Largo and only 1 bird made it back to Canada alive in the springtime, I don't think you'd hear any complaints us!
If you tried to have goose instead of turkey for Thanksgiving, the goose will be very tough to eat and very greasy in the pot, so I don't actually recommend it.
A point of caution however, is to never get close to a Canada Goose when it's on the ground or else it will attack you and is capable of breaking your arms or legs with it's wings, which is something we Canadians are taught early in our lives to not play chicken with a Canada Goose... because the goose will win!
Thinkerbell · 41-45, F
@swirlie
If the geese stay overnight on the field after feeding on the harvest gleanings, I'm sure the field will end up well-fertilized for the next year. 🤭
If the geese stay overnight on the field after feeding on the harvest gleanings, I'm sure the field will end up well-fertilized for the next year. 🤭
swirlie · 31-35
@Thinkerbell
Oh, you better believe it! Sometimes when we were kids, our mom wouldn't allow us into the backyard until heavy rains had come to clean the place up! Those days waiting for rain to come, we got shipped off to the town pool at the YWCA!
Oh, you better believe it! Sometimes when we were kids, our mom wouldn't allow us into the backyard until heavy rains had come to clean the place up! Those days waiting for rain to come, we got shipped off to the town pool at the YWCA!