Geese Have Teeth???

[Midnightmom]

It's no wonder people run from "attack" geese. I would be scared to death if I saw this running at me!

 

 

 

[Jeepers]

Yikes. I didn't know they looked that vicious either. That tongue! 

[Annarchy]

<—————- Darlene when she sees this"……..

[Jeepers]

The best way I've seen to ward off a goose is with an umbrella. I saw it years ago on Billy The Exterminator.  

 

He was trying to remove a gaggle of geese from a business' flat roof. He kept opening and closing it really fast. They finally got the idea to move on. But most importantly it kept him at a safe distance from their mouth. Assuming you have an umbrella handy. Maybe that's why the Brits seem to always have an umbrella on their arm in pictures. Always on goose alert. Smart chaps. 

[Mt_Rider]

  I've had geese.  I've been pinched by geese.  ...thus the term: goosed   Their snakey necks are quite agile.

 

But I've never seen teeth on my breeds of geese: African Grey and Chinese White.  Maybe a little bit serrated to saw off the grasses they eat. 

 

If you don't have a horde of them, you just train them.  Gently cuz their rib bones and necks are fragile.  The males would get all possessive in the spring time.  You do keep a wary eye on them.  Never had trouble with the females.  If a gander would dart out his neck/head at me, I'd snatch it right behind the head....and hold gently, not yanking/pulling.  They would be pulling backwards but not strong enough to hurt themselves.  [goose chiro? ]  I'd just hang on for a half a minute while the flustered male would fuss.  Then let it go. 

 

Many times that would be enough.  Or repeat it.  If one was really getting persistent, I'd carefully lead it by his head/neck over to the water dish and dunk his head under water.  They swim underwater and can hold their breath.  But I never held it too long. 

 

You DO have to watch out for the flailing of those wings.  The front of the wing is bone and you can get a wallop!  So position yourself for the duration of head-dunk.  Don't drown them but when I let go, it was always a subdued [but usually grumbling] gander that didn't bother me again. 

 

You have to have quick reflexes to grab in the right place and .....don't pull his head off!

 

MtRider  .....and NEVER let a randy gander sneak up behind you!  Those pinches really do hurt...tho they don't break skin. 

[Mother]

I’ve had lots of geese over the years and lots of breeds and never saw any with teeth.  As Mt_R says, only slight ridges.  
 

What Mt_R is talking about is a version of ‘Manning’ them though that usually involves a period of them only getting food from you as well.  I have done the neck holding thing and you really don’t have to worry about pulling their head off.  Those necks are extremely tough.  If I have a particularly aggressive one, and females can be just as aggressive if there’s no gander or even if there is, I usually grab a neck, pull the goose so it’s back is up against me and fold my arms around the bird to enclose the wings.  Then we just have a sit down somewhere comfortable, for even up to an hour or more, while I pet, ruffle feathers, touch, play with their beak and generally handle the bird.  It doesn’t hurt them but they really do NOT like it and rarely need more than one session .  I’ve used the same method with ornery roosters and even swans, great blue herons, and other big wild birds I needed to be able to handle daily for treatment during rehab.  One word of warning though.  Birds with long necks usually have excellent aim and can go for the eyes.  
 

and, yeah….. never let one sneak up on you…..though they can be awfully quiet when they want to be.     

[Mt_Rider]

Never knew all that, Mother.  Just kinda "winged" that method of cooling their jets myself but it did work.   Ooooo...eyes!  Never had that happen but I can see the issue! 

 

Did you ever have to bandage a bleeding 'toe"???  We had about 10 geese and one snowy day I saw blood tracks.  So....I divided the group on untrampled snow and watched for blood.  Separated the no-blood group elsewhere.  Divided them again and pushed the no-blood group away.  Had to keep moving into new snow to check for blood and eventually found....   Of COURSE it was Lucy!  Whatever the 'it'....it's her!  She wasn't even ours until someone dropped her off at our pond during our major fire......and it took me a week to figure out we had an extra. 

 

So she'd managed [maybe on sharp ice?] to slice off her entire toenail.  Ewww...ouch!  Laying a goose on their back [on my knees] puts them into a somnolent state.  [no struggling, battering wings]  I cleaned it out and used a septic pencil ....and did manage to secure a bandage.  She wasn't too happy with the bandage but it stayed on for a short time.  Can't remember but I think she regrew the toenail. 

 

MtRider   

Edited January 1 by Mt_Rider

[Midnightmom]

35 minutes ago, Mt_Rider said:

So she'd managed [maybe on sharp ice?] to slice off her entire toenail.  Ewww...ouch!  Laying a goose on their back [on my knees] puts them into a somnolent state.  [no struggling, battering wings]  I cleaned it out and used a septic pencil ....and did manage to secure a bandage.  She wasn't too happy with the bandage but it stayed on for a short time.  Can't remember but I think she regrew the toenail. 

 

Geese have toenails???    

I thought they had webbed feet! 

[Mother]

Yes, I’ve had to bandage more than a few bird and other critter’s toes.  I kept kid’s and baby socks  handy and used tape or vet wrap to secure them in different shapes.  I have used disposable gloves for waterproofing but only if they weren’t likely to eat them.  It’s amazing what innovative ideas people come up with to help some injured critter.   

 

We had a Lucy goose too.  She had a back injury that caused her to fall frequently and came with a bunch of ducks. She wasn’t stable enough to be bred.  We processed the ducks but she was a big pet who followed DH every time he was outside.  She was in love with our plastic lawn goose and we have pictures of her smooching him and  wrapping her neck around his.  She laid a clutch of thirty or more  (infertile) eggs twice a year which we traded her for plastic eggs.  She never did figure out why those eggs didn’t hatch .  She was a wonderful ‘aunt’ and often stole baby ducks, chicks, and even baby kittens if she could get away with it. She ate cat food right along with the cats.  The cats actually slept snuggled up to her.  She was ‘unique’ to say the least. 

[Mt_Rider]

6 hours ago, Midnightmom said:

 

Geese have toenails???    

I thought they had webbed feet! 

 

Yeah they do.  But more like a maple leaf with webs and points.  Toe nails on the points. 

 

Mother, your Lucy stories are hilarious!  Adopted baby kittens???     Our Lucy was kinda 'slow' mentally.  Maybe she lived alone before the neighbors dropped her off in our pond.  Then she was the newbie.  Duck and Goose eggs are treasured by bakers.  Helps things rise well { I think} due to proportionately larger yolk.  Fresh eggs.....I miss that now! 

 

I had a unique experience with our gaggle of geese.  A fox grabbed one and tried to drag her away.  I fired a round for the noise....too far for accuracy.  Fox dropped "Sallie Mae" and ran.  I drove down and she was limp.  The fox had had her by the all-too-handy neck but that didn't injure her.  No puncture of skin.  DH explained it's a built-in reflex to drop all their weight.  Make it harder to be carried off.  Even the prey creatures in Africa have it too.  Kinda going into shock.  The rest of the geese and I gathered 'round her.  I examined her and she came out of it.  A bit wobbly but ok. 

 

THEN the geese formed a "chat circle" .  They included me right in the circle.  All of them were talking at once...sticking their long necks into the middle like wagon wheel spokes.  I could nearly make out the words:  "Auuuugh, did you seeeeeee?  Sallie Maeeee almost got cauuught!  O0000hhhh! "  They draw out their sounds like that.  [well, not quite like that but...that's my story and I'm sticking to it.]  LOL 

 

They went on for quite a while like that and no one moved out of the circle.  I tell ya, it was like a group therapy session and I was part of it. 

 

I like geese.  Ducks are a bit daft.  Geese are very silly some times but they take themselves seriously.  They always think they have something important to say....and they say it loudly.  A bit pretentious.  But I like geese better. 

 

MtRider   

Edited January 2 by Mt_Rider

[Mother]

> Mt_R’s geese story.  I like geese better too.  They have personalities and when you are adopted you just have to enjoy it. LOL!
 

55 minutes ago, Mt_Rider said:

They always think they have something important to say....and they say it loudly.  A bit pretentious

 Thanks for the laughs.  It’s a good way to start the new year!