Honk!!

[Busy B]

Just went out to start the car to head to the bus stop to drop off the kiddie...under the deck...HONK!

We have 2 geese....the fence to the coop has been mauled by a moose so they keep getting out. Now there are little surprises all over the snow and ice...ever saw a goose waddle on ice?!rofl Amazing how they can stay upright. So one made the great escape and one is still in the pen..silly goose

We used to have lots of farm critters...thought it would be fun for the kids and the responsibility aspect. Turns out it was just a nightmare:-( ...Neighbor dogs, lynx, eagles, hawks, owls thinned us down pretty quick and some brutal winters made it just time to give it up. Now we have 2 geese and 2 peacocks.

This is what we used to have...well part of them anyway...no grass in the backyard but the weeds had a nice tinge of green to them:()

[Jackie Ramo]

Geese make great watchdoogs, and they bite - hard!!

I wish I didn't live int he city sometimes as I'd like to have a chicken to eat the bugs and slugs in the garden.

[Busy B]

Them chickens are great at that! Last year was the first year we had too many mosquitoes around here...didn't get that last killing frost and they were everywhere! Was fun to watch the chickens chase them :smile:

They do tear up a flower bed tho..

Hence now the geese are supposed to be penned up since I know have a pond...not much green happening yet..

[Jackie Ramo]

Hadn't thought of the damage to the flower bed but I was thinking one small chicken not a rhode island red. Not one of those nasty bantams either.. worse than geese for biting. :sad:

[Terri]

Never thought of geese as pets LOL
Ian wants a goat... if he gets a goat I want a parrot!

[BonnieIN]

You have PEACOCKS! I love them!
Are they as noisey as people say? Sorry dumb question, but I've only saw them in a zoo, etc.

[BonnieIN]

Terri, Ian wants a goat?

Come to Indiana and we'll raid my neighbors barn. He's got a zillion of them and will never miss one or two!

[Jackie Ramo]

Goats are cute but need to be tied up or they wonder and eat everything. I should say chained up cuz they'll eat the rope !rofl

[Terri]

He want's a goat(s) to help keep the grass trimmed :lol: and chained for sure, eat itself a circle and then move it around to finish the job HAHA... I have my doubts! If it got near my flower beds I'd consider buying a gun!

[Jackie Ramo]

Goat Curry YUM!!!!! !rofl

You could get a female and have milk.... Tell him not to be so cheap, buy the kids a pony !wow! !wow!

[Terri]

The heck with the kids!! No, I want a pony!! :lol:

[The Other Lynda]

We have geese that "visit" now and then - I chase them off! They are messy and nasty birds - having said that, I enjoy seeing them (on someone else's property. !rofl ) I want a miniature horse! There is a mini horse farm near here - I drive over and watch them over the fence all the time - I WANT ONE! I have a friend who is a native Arkansan who jokes that I have my priorities all messed up - I have dogs that cain't hunt, fish you cain't eat, and I want a horse you cain't ride! Oh well... I think the dogs could hunt...really, really small prey. :lol: Rachel might be able to catch something slow and very, very tiny.

[Jackie Ramo]

Yes, I like to see geese from a distance.. Smith an I were on a picnic (first date) and the Canada geese decided that our lunch should be theirs.... Had to drive them off with broken branches and even they the big male had to be thunked on the head before he gave up. Good job the park guys didn't see us, against the law to harm the geese. :twisted:

Yes, I'd like to see pretty Miss Rachel hunt anything but the cookie hidden under the velvet cushion !rofl

[The Other Lynda]

Rachel is really good at hunting cookies! And tonight she hunted lamb chops, quite successfully, I might add. She does not have a velvet pillow, however...
SIDENOTE: You should have seen her trying to "walk" a 100 pound Ridgeback by holding his leash in her mouth and tugging for all her wee four-pound body was worth! Darn it, and me without a camera at that moment! :lol:

[Jackie Ramo]

You are slipping - no velvet pillow, bad mom bad!!!

I can picture her giving that leash a tug though, had a little one that did the for the neighbours dog, that dog played along though.

[BonnieIN]

Talking Geese, don't Canadian Geese mate for life?

Some of you may know this but I heard on the radio several weeks ago a few things that I found interesting about them.

The Nascar fan that I am... Canadian Geese actually "draft" from one another while flying. Many together can fly faster than just a few, that's why when you see one starting to fly out of the group, it will get back in line because there's less resistance.

Also if one goose gets sick or injured, at least 2 will go with it until it gets better or dies.


Don't know for sure if this is fact but it sounded good! :D

[Busy B]

Shouldn't be long before the Canadians make their way here...a town nearby used to have the Snow Goose Classic. Guess the date when they would come in...turned the flats of the river into white!wow!

I know that swans will mate for life, so maybe the geese do too...

Peacocks...yup two...Max came to me from Washington after the other male passed and without a male the female is pretty bored...Think he'll be 4 this year. One thing about it, we are peacock feather rich;) He'll molt in the fall and regrow in the spring...Here's a pic of him last spring..

[Cinnamon]

Terri when I lived out in West Texas we had some goats. They will eat anything. That Billy we had was nasty! stink! Everytime I went to the fence he had to have my can of Dr Pepper and my ciggie. He didn't care if it was lit or not! :lol: He would stand up on the fence bawling until I gave in !rofl

[BonnieIN]

Oh Busy he's a beaut!
Are males more colorful than females with peacocks?

You're getting me thinking........ ;)

[luke frisbee]

And when I saw that title I knew, "IT WAS ON!"
i was wrong again.

[Terri]

:lol: Luke

Busy he is beautiful :grin:

I don't want goats Cin... if I want to "see" goats I can go up the road and get my fill of their antics. About 50 or so all different and all with different quirks too LOL

[Jackie Ramo]

Yes, Canada Geese mate for life and have a real community where they look after each other. The V formation is to make a slipstreamthrough the air and when the lead tires he drops back and rests at the end of the line and the next one takes over. Often from the back of the pack as they are more rested than the ones in the front.

Busy, what do you do with the peacocks in winter? Do they sleep with the geese? He sure is a beauty!!!

[Busy B]

Geese equals honk!;)


They can be watch dogs, alarm clocks, and just good pets in general...we got them young (had to tell hubby we found them by the side of the road:roll: ) and they would sit in your lap, tail end over the side of course.

In the bird world, the males are the showy ones and the females more blah to blend in with the scenery, especially when their laying on a clutch. They are penned and living thru the winter in our old play house but do pretty good with a heat lamp. Depends on how cold it gets...Maxine is 6...she lays eggs every year and Max does his duty, but she lays them so late, their pretty young when winter hits..No where else to put them and they don't fare as well.

Had an Impeyan pheasant....had....He's stuffed now and I don't think you want to see a pic. He was the most beautiful bird...Dark metallic blue with orange tail feathers. He shared the pen with the peacocks. He was a little bigger than a regular pheasant. The old male peacock died and Max came and didn't appreciate him trying to woo his new woman. So he drilled him in the head with his beak:sad: Found that out when hubby insisted he be stuffed. Just not quite the same.

[Busy B]

What a routine...put them in the pen, moose knocks down the fence trying to get at their food.

Couple days ago heard tapping on the glass on the door to the deck...lo and behold...guess who made it up the stairs:D

Didn't want to go back the same way tho...had to carry her down..

[Jackie Ramo]

Seems the wildlife there keeps you on your toes. Makes raccoons and squirrels seem much less trouble.