Geese Are Odd Ducks

I've recently learned more about geese than, really, I wanted to know. Just to set the stage here, there are geese everywhere around here. I don't really mind them. They don't seem to hurt anything or anyone.

There are usually geese in our parking lot when we get to work every day. I don't know what they think. Something like "This looks like a good place for a nest." or "I just can't flap my wings any longer." I know it's nothing like "Here's an out of the way place with no cars driving through." Anyway, they just seem to settle willy-nilly in the lot, regardless of the amount of traffic.

It's ok. I always go around them. The only time I've ever had any issue with them was the one time they decided to park right in front of the door to our store. They were not happy that I asked them to leave.

But that prompted a lot of conversations about geese in general. One of our employees was telling us about the geese he had to chase off of his front porch. He said two males had cornered a female. Apparently, it's pretty common for geese to have an accomplice/rape buddy to help them out, even going as far as helping force the female out of the sky to the ground.

But, you know, that's the animal kingdom. Lots of weird, Jerry Springer-style stuff going on in the animal kingdom, in general. What gets me though, is that--once the male has forced himself onto the female--they're now a family. The male and female raise the young together.

Now what kind of alpha male crap is that? He forcibly impregnates her, and they live happily ever after? Oh, my geese sisters... You gotta respect yourself a little more than that.