England has 9 species of geese, not all of them are native. Geese often fly in a v-line (if one gets sick, two fly down with it until it gets better or dies. Then they fly back to the original group or find another one to join. How fascinating. Geese are also quite comical. They fixate on whoever they see as their ‘mother’ which is why they actually behave like guard dogs sometimes if you go near their territory, and chase you down the street!
Geese are sociable and noisy large birds, who call to each other throughout their migrations. Like swans, they mate for life. There are two groups of geese:
- Grey geese have five species (pink-footed, greylag, Tuntra bean, Taiga bean and white-fronted)
- Black geese have three species (Barnacle, Brent & Canada geese)
- Egyptian geese escaped into the wild and there are now almost 2000 pairs.
Here are some ways we can help geese:
- Don’t eat goose. This a no-brainer. Not many people eat it these days thankfully. You don’t need goose fat to make good roast spuds, locally-grown rapeseed oil does the job just as well. And supports local farmers too.
- If you’re an angler, Monomaster is a nifty invention to store fishing line, the design does not encourage nesting birds. Voluntary bans on lead shot have not worked (100,000 wildfowl die yearly from ingesting metal in used pellets (lead shot also harms up to half a million other creatures).
- If you keep geese, RSPCA has a good suite of care pages, including food, housing and diseases and predators to keep safe from. One tip to humanely deter foxes is to get the male member of the household to urinate in the garden, apparently it’s a good deterrent!
- Support GoodHeart Animal Sanctuaries which gives loving homes to homeless geese. They enjoy patrolling the yard, swimming in the ponds and exploring the sanctuary. When night falls, the ‘tame flock’ are herded into a cosy overnight closure, and the ‘wild flock’ that like to keep themselves to themselves, head to a secure island, safe from predators.
- Boycott anywhere that sells pate de foie gras. This is when geese (and ducks) are force-fed until their pates turn to liver. It’s banned in the UK to produce, but still sold in some shops, hotels and restaurants.
- Harming any native wildlife is illegal. If you see anything of concern, report to wildlife crime unit (can be anonymous).
should you feed leftover bread to wildfowl?
As a rule, no. Obviously if they are starving, but ducks, geese and swans easily find pond food underwater (their natural food). We’re a country of 60 million people, so everyone giving a ‘little bit of bread’ can do more harm than good. Never feed mouldy/stale/crusty bread (or crackers) as they can choke. Nor buttered bread (like leftover sandwiches), as butter smears on feathers, affecting waterproofing/insulation).
