Dead goose mystery

[plowhog]

About 3 days ago I found a dead goose in the pond. It was at the waters edge, part in and part out of the water. Other than being dead, it looked completely healthy and normal. I checked it over and didn't find any wounds or injuries on it. I removed and disposed of it.

Since it was at waters edge I'm guessing it died in the water and floated over to the edge?

Ever since, the remaining geese on my property (about a dozen) will not enter the pond. This is very unusual, and I know their patterns well. Avoiding the water is very odd. It's normally their "safe spot" that they flee to if something disturbs them.

Any guesses on why the goose died or the others now avoid the water?

 

[nybirdman]

Lots of potential reasons:breeding season is tough on wild life for one.Animals do die of old age too.

 

[MoKelly]

I have no solid clue but - is it possible the pond somehow got contaminated such that it is harmful for geese? Someone doesn’t like/want geese in the pond or area? Many land owners feel geese are a nuisance.

I imagine if the geese won’t enter the water they will soon be gone.

MoKelly

 

[plowhog]

is it possible the pond somehow got contaminated such that it is harmful for geese?

A couple of weeks ago I put pond dye in to inhibit growth of aquatic plants. I do that every year, except this year I bought it at tractor supply instead of from another source. That's the only change I can think of ......

 

[cqaigy2]

Did you get a chance to open the carcass up?

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

A couple of weeks ago I put pond dye in to inhibit growth of aquatic plants. I do that every year, except this year I bought it at tractor supply instead of from another source. That's the only change I can think of ......

I think you answered your own question.

 

[Hay Dude]

Maybe the dye color has an affect on the geese’s desirability to land there and the one that did died from the pond dye.

 

[the old grind]

I've had more geese show up this Spring after dying the pond like I do every year. (this my 20th) I doubt if the dye is harmful to birds or a deterrent to them. btw, new this year is a pair of pied-billed grebes tht didn't fly farther North. They're a small relative of the loon, about the size of a wood duck, and have been swimming and diving for fish in dyed water for nearly a month.

One thing beside dying of old age that may leave a floating goose is a snapping turtle. Their bite isn't as strong as their body weight can hold a goose's head underwater until it drowns. Like most amphibious reptiles ('gators, etc) they tend to guard their prey while it mellows for a few days before dining on it.

 

[plowhog]

Maybe the dye color has an affect on the geese’s desirability to land there and the one that did

Good thought and I wondered the same. But they were using the pond for many days/a week and a half just like normal. Till the floater geese showed up.

No, I didn't open up the goose to see what was inside.

btw I do have catfish in the pond, but I don't think one would grab a goose!

 

[drssg]

Are there other ponds near by? If someone shot it with a 22, it might have been able to fly off and die at your pond. The wound might not be very apparent. It's probably not a very likely scenario, but just a thought.

 

[plowhog]

Are there other ponds near by? If someone shot it with a 22, it might have been able to fly off and die at your pond. The wound might not be very apparent.

There is a much smaller pond that is close by. I know that neighbor well. I will ask if anything is up. Good idea!!

As I think more about this, I have not seen any bears this spring. That is unusual. Nor any bobcats. The deer which were always out early and late only come out about midnight now. And I have yet to hear a coyote yip this spring.

We have more undeveloped acres than the neighbors, and the largest pond, so our property is usually very popular with wildlife. But as I think about it-- it seems even more is missing. Maybe something is up much bigger than one dead goose ....

 

[Cougsfan]

Years and years ago I was out in the sage brush and a dead pheasant just fell out of the sky and landed near me. There was no obvious cause. Was one of the weirdest things I ever saw.

 

[the old grind]

I had a lot of channel cats, bigger than resident bass and too many as witnessed by bellies full of vegetation when I reduced them. A 3-4 pounder might easily pull down a not yet fledged swimming mallard swimming w/o adults, but goslings get bigger than robins too quickly to be vulnerable with Mom & Dad along if not taken as eggs by 'coons & coyotes. If you've ever had geese you're pretty much farming 'em if they ever nest nearby. (within 100yd of good water/food) My typically shallow 3.5+ ac pond is too attractive to them.

btw, there are floating 'gator heads or fabric decoys (use synthetic if you DIY) decoys that can be moved around a pond every day or two. Just anchor 'em near each other by shore with fishing weights. You pretty much only need to mess with geese in Spring when they're looking to nest and are sure they can feed young that swim but don't fly yet. We don't need succeding generations to return in droves to 'where they came from' like salmon. We'll get hordes again in the Fall but you get good at waving them off to minimize over-fertilization and more weeds.

 

[the old grind]

There is a much smaller pond that is close by. I know that neighbor well. I will ask if anything is up. Good idea!!

As I think more about this, I have not seen any bears this spring. That is unusual. Nor any bobcats. The deer which were always out early and late only come out about midnight now. And I have yet to hear a coyote yip this spring.

We have more undeveloped acres than the neighbors, and the largest pond, so our property is usually very popular with wildlife. But as I think about it-- it seems even more is missing. Maybe something is up much bigger than one dead goose ....

Last year we had coyotes denning just a yard or two E of me. Rabbit, squirrel, nesting waterfowl, and turkey populations crashed. No deer wer spotted in the Fall. A black bear did get smashed on I-75 near flint not long ago but that's an anomaly in the lower half of the lower peninsula.

Stripped fawn carcasses were found in the woods just over the fence but neighbors did not know how to set their traps for 'yotes seen on their trail cams. I took out the alpha female in Feb and rabbits have returned, so I guess were not a dining room again for a while. Good to check with neighbors to see if they've noticed anything. We don't just live in our yards, we live in our neighborhoods.

 

[drssg]

You pretty much only need to mess with geese in Spring when they're looking to nest

That is what I've found. In the Spring, if I see them hanging out at the pond, I'll go out and chase them away once a day. That disturbs them enough that they end up building their nest somewhere else. I still see some around, but not tons of them.

I used to have two dogs that LOVED to chase the geese away from the pond. They would circle the pond in opposite directions and clear them all out in seconds. Some of the geese would sometimes swim onto the pond instead of flying away, and one of the dogs would jump right in after them, while the other one kept barking at the bank.

The swimmer is now blind and the other one has since died, so I'm the goose chaser now.

 

[JethroB]

A friend and I were playing at golf once and heard then saw a duck making a ruckus in a nearby irrigation pond/water hazard. Duck suddenly disappeared underwater feet first. Pops back up after a few seconds and pitching a fit. Then under she goes again, feet first. Pops up again and flies off squawking away. Huh? We keep looking over at the pond while pondering if we had had a couple of beers too many. Then the gator surfaces. Apparently it had the duck by a foot and he lost his grip.

 

[plowhog]

I totally forgot something else that might be of significance. Starting about 3-4 months ago, we had one goose that was lame. Something was wrong with its webbed foot on the right side-- it drooped badly. Finally the webbing fell off entirely and the goose had only a stump on the right.

It got around OK, which was surprising. All the other geese "paired up" during mating season except he didn't. He hung out with the flock but he was the only single.

He vanished at the same time when I found the dead goose in the pond. Have not seen him since. At first, I thought the dead one was him. But the dead goose had both normal webbed feet with no appearance of damage?

fyi I checked and we do not have snapping turtles in my area.

 

[oosik]

Well......if you didn't do a necropsy ( animal autopsy ) it's a rather open discussion.

 

[3Ts]

fyi I checked and we do not have snapping turtles in my area.

Depending on who you checked with, you may want to redo that, although CA & NV are unlikely to have them. When I lived in Florida, my neighbor had a picture of a cougar eating one of his chickens, yet he was told there were no cougars in the area. Also, one of the fishermen caught a piranha in one of the local lakes and there aren't supposed to be any. Turns out people release "pets" when they are no longer wanted.

 

[plowhog]

Well......if you didn't do a necropsy ( animal autopsy ) it's a rather open discussion.

I don't know how to do that.