Poor Gimpy Goose...
Each morning as I've walked for the past week... I've come across a gaggle of Canada Geese that have found a rather pleasant grazing spot amongst the construction sites. Geese are such fun to watch... There are always one or two that hold the job of 'spotters'... They're always at attention while the others graze... I'm assuming they take turns at the this job, but it's just so difficult to tell them apart one can never be sure.
Among this group of early morning feasters is the saddest fellow... I've come to refer to him as 'Gimpy' as he has a bad leg and limps in a way that's just painful to watch. I think the geese are starting to get used to me 'huffing & puffing' past them each morning as they don't bother flying away like they did the first day or even honking and shuffeling off like the did the second and third day. Today they pretty much remained where they were... Except for 'Gimpy' who it seems needs to be extra careful about getting an early start at escaping if he needs to.
Because he was the one limping so piteously I was able to tell him apart from the others and get a closer look at his leg this time. It was the saddest thing to see... The leg is quite swollen and knobby in places the other one wasn't. I'd certainly like to help this bird if I could but it would be impossible to catch him because he has no problem with flight and if I did catch him... What they heck do I do then?
Nature has a way of handling these things and if I interfered I'd probably only make bigger problems for 'Gimpy' and his/her brood. It just strikes me every day I see 'Gimpy' how fragile some of us are, and yet we 'Gimp' along and have to work a little bit harder to keep up with the group.
posted by EmBee at 8:35 AM
5 Comments:
there may be a nature center near you that does wildlife rehab if it bothers you enough to try to catch the goose.
given that canadian geese are not exactly endangered i'd tend to be of the 'let nature take it's course' mindset because it almost seems liek cpaturing and restraining the bird long enough to rehab it would be almost as torturous as it's current existence. but that's just me.
philosophically it's a good visual reminder though of the ones on the fringes of our own human society.
oh, anbd as for the reading thing.....i don't read nearly as much as i'd like to but summer time is when i play catch up a bit.
and i'm really not that cerebral...way too goofy for that. ;)
My thoughts Exactly!
ohh...poor Gimpy bird!
Many years ago I lived in an apartment complex with a pond that attracted geese. There was one goose who would come up to people apparently looking for food. He had a strange ticking movement where his head would pull back quickly, then come forward. I think it was his way of saying "come close, get away, come close, get away..."
We called him Bo, short for Bold.
Let nature take its course and don't help the bird in any physical way.
www.a-dumb-blog.blogspot.com
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