SITTING GOOSE

Have you ever heard the phrase, "sitting duck"?  It refers to someone who is vulnerable because a sitting duck is an easier target than a duck in flight.  After last night, I'd say a "sitting goose" is more vulnerable as well.

We've had a pair of Canadian geese nesting on our pond for a couple of weeks now.  They have nested each spring for several years, in about the same spot, on the inner dike.

When my hubby went for an early morning walk today, he thought something was amiss when he noticed a large amount of feathers near the goose nest at the pond's edge.  Taking a closer look, he found all seven eggs, unbroken, still lying in the nest, but no mother goose anywhere nearby.  Many small feathers were scattered on the ground with a few more strung out along the dike.

 
We have noticed a large mink frequenting the dike in the past several days.  It looks like he got what he was after.  My hubby thinks the mink may have tucked the goose carcass in a muskrat den along the water's edge, for safe keeping, as we could not find it and there were few large feathers.

As I sit on the bistro bench writing in my journal this morning, I hear the gander quietly honking across the pond near the nesting area.  He appears to have no interest in sitting on the now abandoned eggs himself.  He drifts back and forth across the pond letting the wind choose his destination.

I don't know how long the gander will remain here, on guard, watching and waiting for his mate to reappear.  I 'm not certain how long it will take him to accept what has happened.  I will curiously watch and see how nature handles this process, but I'm sure our lone male goose will be back next spring with a new little mate.  As Aunt Lydia C. says, "Life is for the living."

Mr. Mink will grow bigger and fatter now and perhaps he will contemplate how to pull off something even more grandiose!   That's just nature, that's the way it is.