Saturday, July 17, 2010

I Saw a Goose Die


A few weeks ago I was walking in a park. In the large pond in the park I saw a Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) floating motionless with its neck bent against its back. I wondered if the goose was dead, and if it were dead, if it could still continue to float.


After about half an hour I came back to the same spot. The goose had drifted in toward shore. Suddenly it started thrashing around. In a few seconds it went belly-up, and soon became totally motionless.




I felt oddly honored that the goose had died in my presence.


I suppose that if I had had a child with me, I would have had to say that it was alright and the goose was only doing the backstroke.


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