It made me smile.....what a great picture!

Karen

Not too many years ago Giant Canada Geese were extinct in KY. Nearby Cave Run Lake and the forest service helped in their return but were so successful the geese are now becoming a nuisance in area lakes.
Anyone who has ever owned or loved any species of goose knows how intelligent and loving they are.

We still grieve for our Chinese Gray Goose, Gabey, who was taken by a Great Horned Owl. We put various painted, wooden scrolled replicas of him made by the kids back in the 90s on our Christmas tree each year.

All our geese could talk as well as our parrots, before they matured and switched to goose talk, calling us by name without mixing us up, greeting us enthusiastically whenever we came out the door. They could replicate the dogs perfectly as well.
My heart was so broken after losing the last goose to a car strike while it was trying to defend a flock of baby wild ducks it had adopted that I've not had any more geese.

Great photo, blake. I've never hand-fed a bird, but it looks like an enjoyable experience. I'm sorry to hear about the unfortunate goose incident. It's sad, but we just have to accept that it happens and focus on the good in nature/life. At some point the dead goose's mate will find a new mate and be happy again.

Rachel - your story about your geese is very sad. I could put my heart right in the same place you were when this happened and feel that pain. Just proves that all of God's creatures are special in their own loving way and no matter what kind of creature they are, we love them just the smae.

I'll hand feed any animal that lets me. I've been "thisclose" to hand feeding a group of deer and I'm still trying to get the chickadees to take seed from my hand. As long as they are all still out there, I won't stop trying. ; )

Have a great weekend all. And happy birding.

Blake

Of course there is always the question about making wild animals tame by feeding them, thus making them more vulnerable to hunters, etc., but I dunno-the deer in my area recognize me and let me approach, but disappear if anyone else comes around.

Most geese are very territorial and will attack people who approach a nest or mate, so you have to know your animals. Tame deer are the most dangerous of all, I've read. Newspaper accounts tell of urban deer, who are never hunted and thus unafraid of humans, attacking people in their own driveways.

It's usually best to let wild animals be wild, and to get a large mammal dependent on humans for food is often the way to get it killed. Like the signs say in the State Parks, a fed bear is a dead bear.

And feeding birds human food, like bread crumbs, etc., is never a good idea. Veterinarians warn people not to feed pet dogs human food because it causes the same diseases in dogs that it causes in people, and cooked, processed, chemical-filled food is too nutritionally compromised for wild animals with their natural, raw food diets.

Of course, you can feed all the white bread you want to Starlings and House Sparrows. These dumpster birds seem to thrive on garbage!

Hi Blake and all,

My doctor recommends me "Whole Wheat bread", traditional recipe (must say my ancestors are all dead), anyway, if it good for me...

Luc