A tale of a chest freezer and geese that goosed

6 years ago

The freezer thread reminded me of this...

My sister and I grew up with semi back to the lander parents in rural Maine. We had a big garden. We had cows and pigs for meat along with a menagerie of dogs cats ponies chickens ducks and the nasty geese.

Our mom had a chest freezer in the barn. She would send us out to get things from the freezer. We were really short kids and it was a big freezer. So we would hoist ourselves up and balance on the edge of the freezer. I can still remember the feel of balancing on my ribs and tipping in to reach whatever we were sent to get. Right as we would be reaching down in and our bums sticking up the geese would go after us. When geese attack they shriek, flap their wings - it was fairly scary for us.

The geese came to a bad end end when we went on vacation. They attacked the toddler of the man taking care of our animals for us.

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annie1992

6 years ago

Edie, a swan once attacked poor Ashley, she was about 8 or 9 and had a sandwich. The swan was tame enough to know that people meant food and aggressive enough that it was going to take that sandwich. In spite of the big "Do Not Feed The Swans" sign she tossed the sandwich at the bird and ran, LOL. She's still sure that there is a warrant for her arrest for feeding the swans in Canada at the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. I told her that the statue of limitations has probably expired....

Annie

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annie1992
6 years ago
agmss, I still have to balance on the edge of the freezer to reach the bottom!

Geese can be agressive and mean. I've only eaten the wild ones, never a domestic goose. Grandpa had one when I was small and it was agressive plus they are BIG birds, I don't know what happened to it, but I'm sure it wasn't pretty.

Annie
colleenoz
6 years ago
Yeah, I’m not fond of geese. When DH and I were courting, we went to a farm that had geese. DH was teasing them a bit, and they rushed through the post and rail fence and went for _me_, which I thought was terribly unfair...
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Thanks, Suzie and Lori. The remaining geese and I are doing better today. :) Brian amd I both paid them a little extra attention and it was sunny part of the day which was a help. Willow feels the change more than the others, I think, but she may have been picking up vibes from me. This afternoon they were all hanging out in the huge puddles under the willow tree and splashing up a storm. So I think they have closed ranks already. In between goosie walks I worked myself silly cleaning out and redoing the rabbit house with some help from Brian and David with the heavy parts. By the time I finished, it was time for the geese and chickens to go in for the night... and then I came indoors, collapsed in my recliner with a hefty glass of sherry (I'm saving the raspberry cordial for Christmas or thereabouts) and fell asleep for a couple of hours. Suzie, don't feel bad that you didn't check into the forum yesterday. I could have emailed you, but I knew you were there for me in spirit and that's what counts. (That's what friendship is, isn't it? That warm assurance of support even when you are not in direct contact?) It's a good feeling to know that we are finished with the autumn cuilling and downsizing. Except for the nine half-grown rabbits who are living it up in a huge pen in the old chicken house, there will be no more culling this season... and they will not be ready for another six weeks. At the peak this year we had over fifty critters and now we have just over half that many: five adult rabbits, nine youngsters, four geese, nine chickens and one wonderful moggie who rules us all with a velvet paw. All my critters are tucked in for the night, safe in clean, roomy quarters. A good thought to be going to sleep on. Good-night Sheila. Good-night Beth. Good-night LF and RJ....Good-night Suzie. Good-night Lori. Good-night, Goosies, good-night.
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LOL, sleevendog, I like that. I do occasionally eat tongue, we used to have it for sandwiches. It was a bit disconcerting, though, to open the refrigerator door and see a big cow tongue, whole and chilled on a plate. I usually save them now for Peppi, because her Dad is very fond of them, whereas we usually just add them to sausage. jakkom, I'm going to find that book! suzieque, I was not trying to insult or ridicule you. I only pointed out that if food was not spoiled when it was frozen it would be still safe, as long as it remains frozen, for years, decades even. It just won't taste good anymore. The USDA agrees with me, so that's not just my opinion. I wasn't even thinking of your post when I laughed at 2manydiversions, it just tickled my funny bone, thinking of grown people rolling around in the herb garden. Still does. (snicker) And, in other news, we had the wings for supper tonight. I baked them, Elery gamely took a bite and said they tasted fine. He did seem somewhat surprised. I sauced them and he and the dogs had them for supper. I'm not a fan of wings since I don't like chicken skin, so I let them have them. 8 chicken wings isn't really all that much to eat for a man and two dogs. And a big thank you to my good friend Peppi, who encouraged me to wrap the chicken in produce bags before I vacuum sealed it, to keep the liquid from interfering with the seal. It stayed nicely sealed and I think the double wrap helped keep it from being freezer burned. Annie
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jakkom
6 years ago
I LOVE geese....roasted. LOL!

I used to work for CIGNA. When I visited their campus-like HQ in Springfield MA, there was a massive expansive of lawn, trees/shrubs artistically grouped, and a small lake with a bevy of white swans. Very picturesque - and all visitors were told very firmly to stay away from them. Swans, especially when nesting, have no hesitation about defending their territory.

Ironically, many times swans are used to keep geese away from a property, such as a park or public lawn area. There are companies that actually rent out swans for such purpose!
colleenoz
6 years ago
I’m not sure swans are a great alternative to geese :-). They’re equally territorial and vicious IME, and bigger...
annie1992
6 years ago
jakkom, swans are even bigger and meaner than geese, and very territorial. Here in Michigan we have the largest population of mute swans in the United States, somewhere around 15,500. It is not native to North America and the population is increasing by approximately 10% per year. They are considered the most aggressive waterfowl species in the world, they can have a wing span of 5 feet or more and they do not hesitate to attack humans. The real problem they are causing here, though, is that they nest 3 weeks earlier than the trumpeter swan, which IS native and is endangered. They like the same type of habitat and while nesting they defend the entire area, driving out the trumpeters. I only wish they'd drive out the Canada geese, those I have by the hundreds!

Annie
nancyjane_gardener
6 years ago
Someone gave us a goose to raise for TG during our back to the land days (70s). Hubby went out to take care of business and grabbed the thing by the head thinking he would snap it's neck (like you always hear about with a chicken). Well, he got pummeled by that goose while it's 6 foot wing span was beating him!

The gooses neck just squirreled around like a bunch of S's! He finally did it in with a brick! Never killed an animal after that!
ediej1209 AL Zn 7
6 years ago
annie1992, we took our son & my nephew to Sleeping Bear Dunes one year and then to the public swimming area at the lake across the street. There was a family of swans. We had no idea how aggressive they are and they seemed pretty tame so we tried to get a picture of the kids with them. Bad bad idea. We barely got all of us piled into the car and the doors shut before they got close enough to inflict injury.
ediej1209 AL Zn 7
6 years ago
Annie, too bad nobody taught the swan to read the sign! ;>}
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
6 years ago
I understand geese can make very good 'watchdogs' for this reason...
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
I've seen peacocks used as watchdog's - somewhat common where I live. They make an awful sound, LOL!

I enjoyed your story agmss - reminded me of a goose we met... In the Smoky Mtns. there's an area with preserved log homes, a mill, barns, etc. We often visited until the time mom got attacked by a goose. My dad actually laughed at first as the goose ran after her through a field, not knowing they could bite with those beaks... Mom wasn't keen on returning after that!

A tale of a chest freezer and geese that goosed

annie1992

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