Speaking of Geese

On Sat, 8 Apr 2006 05:37:54 -0500, "jmcquown"
wrote:

Karen wrote:
This goose has been protecting a ToysRUs store in New Jersey.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?sec...rre&id=4063319

I saw footage on the local news just now. Doesn't look TOO mean.
Just a bit persistant. The store is taking it well.

When I lived in Bangkok (gonna miss Britta's references to that place!)
there was a lumberyard across the street from our house that used geese as
'watch geese'. Their honk was larger than their bite, although I won't say
a goose bite doesn't hurt. But the premise was, the geese honking would
wake up the watchman (and trust me, every watchman in Thailand is sleeping)
if the geese put up a fuss, to alert him there was someone breaking in and
trying to steal. That sure was the case. Those geese were noisy as could
be.

This case is a wild goose and for some reason it has staked out a claim on
top of a building, which is odd since geese and ducks are usually ground
dwellers. Just don't turn your back on it, seems to the be the rule

I have heard that the US military sometimes uses cages of geese
stationed around the fence of secure facilities. If anyone tries to
sneak past in the darkness, the geese will wake up and make lots of
noise.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

Neither are boys in the girls dorms but do you think that stopped us

wrote in message
...
W. Leong wrote:

In my undergrad days, I saw lots of ducks and geese on the fountain on
campus. One student even claimed a duck, or goose, grabbed his papers
and took off. That was his excuse of not having his homework to turn in.

LOL!! I guess dogs weren't allowed in the dorms?

Joyce

On Sat, 08 Apr 2006 21:27:45 -0400, "Howard C. Berkowitz"
wrote:

In article , jmcquown
wrote:

Victor Martinez wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
'watch geese'. Their honk was larger than their bite, although I
won't say a goose bite doesn't hurt. But the premise was, the geese
honking would

When my godson was little, we were at the club and he wanted to go see
the ducks in the pond. So I grabbed his hand and took him near the
pond.
We were looking at the ducks when a rather large goose saw us and
made a beeline for us with very evil intentions. I grabbed my nephew
and ran as fast as I could, with the goose in pursuit!
Scary critters if you ask me, attacking someone much bigger than them.

I guess they are territorial Ducks, on the other hand, don't seem to
care too much. They just sort of quack and waddle away (or get in the water
and paddle out a few feet). I hear swans are much like geese when it comes
to being territorial (and mean).

I understand the requirements have changed, but when I was taking the
Boy Scout First Class test, one had to demonstrate marking trails,
stalking, or classical tracking by footprints and the like. Marking
trails seemed too simple, and tracking, unless you are following an
elephant, tends to be a skill learned very young.

So, I took the stalking option. How did I practice? Near my house was a
city recreational area with a fairly large pond, which hosted a flock
of ducks. I'd carefully crawl up on them, freezing whenever they looked
at me, and go for the mark of a successful stalk.

If I was sufficiently invisible and inaudible, I could goose a duck.

I once goosed a squirrel, although it was more a matter of his
noisiness and inattention, rather than my stealth. The squirrel was
head-down in a park trash can, with only a couple of inches of tail
showing, as he rummaged around, probably eating left-over lunch
scraps. I tweaked his tail, then hastily retreated about 10 feet. The
squirrel dashed up a nearby tree, then gave me a five-minute-or-so
tongue-lashing for having offended his dignity.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

In article ,
wrote:

W. Leong wrote:

In my undergrad days, I saw lots of ducks and geese on the fountain on
campus. One student even claimed a duck, or goose, grabbed his papers
and took off. That was his excuse of not having his homework to turn in.

LOL!! I guess dogs weren't allowed in the dorms?

Joyce

When I was finishing the final proofreading of one of my books, I set
the chapters on the dining table. Clifford put a hairball on two
chapters.

The managing editor said that her resident editorial assistants did
that occasionally, but I shouldn't take it as a chapter review.

On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 22:08:19 -0400, "Howard C. Berkowitz"
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

W. Leong wrote:

In my undergrad days, I saw lots of ducks and geese on the fountain on
campus. One student even claimed a duck, or goose, grabbed his papers
and took off. That was his excuse of not having his homework to turn in.

LOL!! I guess dogs weren't allowed in the dorms?

Joyce

When I was finishing the final proofreading of one of my books, I set
the chapters on the dining table. Clifford put a hairball on two
chapters.

The managing editor said that her resident editorial assistants did
that occasionally, but I shouldn't take it as a chapter review.

If one's "resident editorial assistant" occasionally bites off the
corner of a page, how should one interpret that action?

I once read that Isaac Newton once completed the first draft of a
book, only to have his dog tear up half of the one-and-only manuscript
copy.

--
John F. Eldredge --
PGP key available from http://pgp.mit.edu
"Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better
than not to think at all." -- Hypatia of Alexandria

In article , John F.
Eldredge wrote:

On Sun, 09 Apr 2006 22:08:19 -0400, "Howard C. Berkowitz"
wrote:

In article ,
wrote:

W. Leong wrote:

In my undergrad days, I saw lots of ducks and geese on the fountain on
campus. One student even claimed a duck, or goose, grabbed his papers
and took off. That was his excuse of not having his homework to turn in.

LOL!! I guess dogs weren't allowed in the dorms?

Joyce

When I was finishing the final proofreading of one of my books, I set
the chapters on the dining table. Clifford put a hairball on two
chapters.

The managing editor said that her resident editorial assistants did
that occasionally, but I shouldn't take it as a chapter review.

If one's "resident editorial assistant" occasionally bites off the
corner of a page, how should one interpret that action?

I once read that Isaac Newton once completed the first draft of a
book, only to have his dog tear up half of the one-and-only manuscript
copy.

The dog's name was Diamond, and Newton just spoke sadly to him.

Kreisleriana wrote:
On Sat, 8 Apr 2006 11:19:54 -0500, "jmcquown"
yodeled:


Victor Martinez wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

'watch geese'. Their honk was larger than their bite, although I
won't say a goose bite doesn't hurt. But the premise was, the geese
honking would

When my godson was little, we were at the club and he wanted to go see
the ducks in the pond. So I grabbed his hand and took him near the
pond.
We were looking at the ducks when a rather large goose saw us and
made a beeline for us with very evil intentions. I grabbed my nephew
and ran as fast as I could, with the goose in pursuit!
Scary critters if you ask me, attacking someone much bigger than them.

I guess they are territorial Ducks, on the other hand, don't seem to
care too much. They just sort of quack and waddle away (or get in the water
and paddle out a few feet). I hear swans are much like geese when it comes
to being territorial (and mean).



Swans are the BADDEST!!! And they are BIG. I live near a park with a
good-sized artificial lake with lots of waterfowl, and the swans are
like the local gangstas. When they come along, they muscle everyone
else out of the way. They are remarkably beautiful to see, though.


Yeah, we have swans around here too. They dress in black, so you can
tell they're bad guys. They look pretty goofy in their adolescence
though, grey fuzzy fluffy bits mixed up with their sleek black grown up
feathers, but still trying to look BAAAD.

John F. Eldredge wrote:

I have heard that the US military sometimes uses cages of geese
stationed around the fence of secure facilities. If anyone tries to
sneak past in the darkness, the geese will wake up and make lots of
noise.

I heard, the Romans used geese for much the same purpose, so they've used
for guarding for at least 2000 years.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

Helen Wheels wrote:
Kreisleriana wrote:
On Sat, 8 Apr 2006 11:19:54 -0500, "jmcquown"
yodeled:


Victor Martinez wrote:

jmcquown wrote:

'watch geese'. Their honk was larger than their bite, although I
won't say a goose bite doesn't hurt. But the premise was, the
geese honking would

When my godson was little, we were at the club and he wanted to go
see
the ducks in the pond. So I grabbed his hand and took him near the
pond.
We were looking at the ducks when a rather large goose saw us and
made a beeline for us with very evil intentions. I grabbed my
nephew
and ran as fast as I could, with the goose in pursuit!
Scary critters if you ask me, attacking someone much bigger than
them.

I guess they are territorial Ducks, on the other hand, don't
seem to care too much. They just sort of quack and waddle away (or
get in the water and paddle out a few feet). I hear swans are much
like geese when it comes to being territorial (and mean).



Swans are the BADDEST!!! And they are BIG. I live near a park with
a good-sized artificial lake with lots of waterfowl, and the swans
are
like the local gangstas. When they come along, they muscle everyone
else out of the way. They are remarkably beautiful to see, though.


Yeah, we have swans around here too. They dress in black, so you can
tell they're bad guys. They look pretty goofy in their adolescence
though, grey fuzzy fluffy bits mixed up with their sleek black grown
up feathers, but still trying to look BAAAD.

Yeah, but even as adolescents, that wingspan is something to see!

Jill

Howard C. Berkowitz wrote:
In article , jmcquown
wrote:

Victor Martinez wrote:
jmcquown wrote:
'watch geese'. Their honk was larger than their bite, although I
won't say a goose bite doesn't hurt. But the premise was, the
geese honking would

When my godson was little, we were at the club and he wanted to go
see the ducks in the pond. So I grabbed his hand and took him near
the
pond.
We were looking at the ducks when a rather large goose saw us and
made a beeline for us with very evil intentions. I grabbed my nephew
and ran as fast as I could, with the goose in pursuit!
Scary critters if you ask me, attacking someone much bigger than
them.

I guess they are territorial Ducks, on the other hand, don't
seem to care too much. They just sort of quack and waddle away (or
get in the water and paddle out a few feet). I hear swans are much
like geese when it comes to being territorial (and mean).

I understand the requirements have changed, but when I was taking the
Boy Scout First Class test, one had to demonstrate marking trails,
stalking, or classical tracking by footprints and the like. Marking
trails seemed too simple, and tracking, unless you are following an
elephant, tends to be a skill learned very young.

So, I took the stalking option. How did I practice? Near my house was
a
city recreational area with a fairly large pond, which hosted a flock
of ducks. I'd carefully crawl up on them, freezing whenever they
looked
at me, and go for the mark of a successful stalk.

If I was sufficiently invisible and inaudible, I could goose a duck.

Ducks are fairly easy to catch, hence the many recipes for duck

Jill