Pet Canadian goose.

[studor]

We always have two or three broods of Canada geese on our marsh. They leave feathers and s**t all over in the spring. A couple of years ago one of the goslings had a broken leg that had healed but it walked on the equivalent of its knee on that side so it was much slower than the rest of the brood. We fed it and it followed me around for most of the summer whenever it saw me. Our Lab tended to ignore it even though he would chase the rest fo the brood. In the fall when the rest of the brood left it remained behind and we were afraid it could not fly and we would have to either protect it or have goose jerky. One day the Lab decided it was time to chase it and the goose finally flew after several aborted takeoffs and rough landings. In the end it joined up with a migratory flock on the marsh and went wherever nature took it.
I think that if they are not threatened, Canada's are quite tolerant of humans and in many cases can be downright ornery to get what they want. They are not my favourite bird but they are interesting to watch in parenting
Our country place has a wrap around porch and no air conditioning so we often sit out -- closest sidewalk however is about twenty miles away

 

[LarryD]

I think that if they are not threatened, Canada's are quite tolerant of humans and in many cases can be downright ornery to get what they want.

I had a ball roll into a bunch of resting Canadian Geese once. It was in the fairway and as I approaced them the gander came at me. There was no way he was going to let me get to my ball and the rest of the gaggle wasn't the least bit concerned. I decided to just drop another ball and my buddy said I had to take a stroke. I tried to claim an unmovable hazard, the gander sure wasn't going to leave, but he kept busting on me that I was cheating. I told him he should get them to move and I would play the ball :laughing:

 

[Redneck in training]

We had few pairs of CGs on our pond for a while. Our dogs would chase anything what moved but they left the gees alone. Aparently they were taught a lesson.

 

[creekbend]

Geese make excellent watch dogs, if you can put up with their constant dropping of fecal matter. They are territorial and will alert you to anything or anyone coming onto your property. Drug dealers also have been known to incorporate them into their surveillance system.

 

[orezok]

When I was a kid, we had a Muscovy duck as a pet. We lived in town and our house was on top of a bank that was about 6' high. The duck decided that it was a "guard duck" and would sit at the top of the slope and no one dared to come on the property.

Every once in a while a dog would see the duck and come charging at it. It didn't matter the size of the dog, after about 5 seconds of flapping and pecking the dog would be taking off with it's tail between it's legs.

Never saw the duck loose a fight!

 

[Pete Judd]

I have thought about getting some geese, but found out that they poop 10 times an hour. That's once every 6 min. I have a couple of dogs, and they poop enough and I don't think the lawn needs any more fertilizer.