Among Friends

[Icegoddess]

For the past few years a pair of Canadian Geese have resided at a little pond owned by my local YMCA where I go to the gym.  Sometimes they would come up to the building to nibble on the grass, and mostly they had the pond to themselves although occasionally a flock would fly in and hang out awhile.  I have noticed this year that there is only one.  At first I thought the female was nesting and the male was just swimming in the pond nearby, but today he/she was up close to the building all alone.  It makes me sad seeing it all alone.  I don't know if they will choose another mate if their mate dies, but it seems kinda unlikely in this case since it is not part of a flock.  

[Kachina624]

@Icegoddess   That is indeed sad.  Don't you wish the remaining goose could talk and tell you what happened to its mate?  For years on our pond, we had two drake mallards who hung out together, never having any mates.  I wondered if they were widowers. 

[beach-mom]

@Icegoddess - It is sad. I always heard geese mate for life. Years ago I was driving when I saw traffic had slowed and drivers were only on one lane, taking turns. I thought an animal had been hit. When it was my turn to go to the other lane I saw a goose had been hit and killed. Its mate was standing right beside it, looking around. It broke my heart. And I had to pull into a lot where people launch their small boats and cry for a while. I wanted to help somehow, but of course I knew there was nothing I could do. 

[KingstonsMom]

@Icegoddess, @beach-mom 

[SXMGirl]

@Icegoddess  Our area has a tremendous population of Canadian Geese and there are a few who appear not to have a mate.  It is very sad, but I always think that at some point each will find either their first mate or a new one.  One pair just had their little goslings at our Y and they are just adorable.  That yellow fir gets me every time.

[luvmybeetle]

We have many Canada Geese that come around our birdfeeder.  Could someone please tell me how to determine which are male and which are female?  I talk to them all the time (at a distance).  They stand and listen to me.  It's so cool.

[January121]

So Sad 😪😪😪

[Drythe]

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@Icegoddess wrote:

For the past few years a pair of Canadian Geese have resided at a little pond owned by my local YMCA where I go to the gym.  Sometimes they would come up to the building to nibble on the grass, and mostly they had the pond to themselves although occasionally a flock would fly in and hang out awhile.  I have noticed this year that there is only one.  At first I thought the female was nesting and the male was just swimming in the pond nearby, but today he/she was up close to the building all alone.  It makes me sad seeing it all alone.  I don't know if they will choose another mate if their mate dies, but it seems kinda unlikely in this case since it is not part of a flock.  

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😢. So sad.

If you contact your State Wildlife Agency, they May be able to help you.

Also our local Audubon Society helps with such things, they could surely point you to the right direction.

Makes me sad.

[Mindy D]

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@Icegoddess wrote:

For the past few years a pair of Canadian Geese have resided at a little pond owned by my local YMCA where I go to the gym.  Sometimes they would come up to the building to nibble on the grass, and mostly they had the pond to themselves although occasionally a flock would fly in and hang out awhile.  I have noticed this year that there is only one.  At first I thought the female was nesting and the male was just swimming in the pond nearby, but today he/she was up close to the building all alone.  It makes me sad seeing it all alone.  I don't know if they will choose another mate if their mate dies, but it seems kinda unlikely in this case since it is not part of a flock.  

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@Icegoddess @I found this on the government of Indiana's Depatment of Natural Resources website:

"Most Canada geese pair with a mate at age three, though some begin this process at two years. Pairs usually stay together for life. If one member of a pair dies, the other goose usually finds another mate within the same breeding season. In Indiana, flocks break up into pairs for nesting in mid- to late February. Nesting activities begin from mid-March through late

There's  more about Canada Geese on this page.

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+happens+if+a+canada+goose+loses+its+mate&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=e...

[Icegoddess]

Of course, that's assuming there are any available geese for it to pair up with.  I haven't been seeing the flocks of geese this year I normally do.  I'm wondering if they have been killed of.  I know of one community that the HOA killed off the resident flock, and a lot of the ponds I often see them at are in upscale communities.  The people complain about the poop on the sidewalks. They could remedy some of that by planting shrubs along the sidewalks.  The geese don't like it when they can't see over the shrubs.