One of these things is not like the others........

[MossRoad]

There not causing any problems for me at the moment. I haven't seen any of them anywhere but in the air or in the water. They feed on the duckweed and that is a good thing.
I suspect that they would be fairly easy to get rid of should I decide to do so.
As for the interloper, my first thought was that a Toulouse was loose. I have since decided that this fowl is a hybrid whose lineage reaches to Eurasia. Yes........ it's a (Anser cygnoides) Swan Goose.
No doubt it's most likley a mix breed as geese have been domesticated since the early 1500's. Somehow I doubt it flew here from Mongolia.

Glad they are not causing you any problems yet. But just in case, you should keep this link handy.

Chef John's Roast Christmas Goose Recipe - Allrecipes.com

 

[idaho2]

Friends have a pond in the front yard and a single mated pair of geese would raise their young on it. But not anymore. The gander found the bass that were planted in the pond. He now keeps the female and young ones away from it. Our friends say that the female goose marches her brood 1/4 mile away to the local creek instead of the pond which is a 75 yds away. So, plant bass in a pond and the goslings become bass food. The ganders will protect their goslings and move on eventually. The goose is not a dumb bird.

idaho2

 

[RobertBrown]

Glad they are not causing you any problems yet. But just in case, you should keep this link handy.

Chef John's Roast Christmas Goose Recipe - Allrecipes.com

Thanks for the recipe and the advice.........


I'm thinking that these geese are as tough as a boot, so should I decide to harvest one (something i've already considered), it would be ground up with some feral hog and perhaps some domestic pig, and made into sausage links.

You can't go wrong with sausage.....

 

[MossRoad]

Mmmm..... sausage. Good choice.

 

[RobertN]

Goose chorizo? Yum...

 

[Piperflyer]

I'd be putting a gator in that pond

 

[RobertBrown]

I'd be putting a gator in that pond

No Gators....I've got three dogs....dogs + gators = Veterinarian.
Veterinarian = big money.

 

[peterc38]

They will scare off a lot of dogs, and chase people as well in areas that they have declared their place to live.

Huh, thats weird. My dogs have always run geese off when they have tried to make themselves at home on my property.

 

[tcreeley]

View attachment 293864http://racphoto.com/Birds/Ducks/SnowGoose.html
My guess is snowgoose- migrating down from N. Canada. Range map says Florida is out of the way for it.
Looks like it has the in between plumage. On this pic of a snow goose- note the darker beak than either the domestic or white fronted goose, and the darker plumage running the length of the back of the neck.
We only see these guys fling overhead usually- they fly in an arc instead of the V of a canada goose.

-The hybridizing link is pretty interesting- certainly a possibility. In our area we get Mallards and Black ducks mixing.

 

[RobertBrown]

View attachment 293864http://racphoto.com/Birds/Ducks/SnowGoose.html
My guess is snowgoose- migrating down from N. Canada. Range map says Florida is out of the way for it.
Looks like it has the in between plumage. On this pic of a snow goose- note the darker beak than either the domestic or white fronted goose, and the darker plumage running the length of the back of the neck.
We only see these guys fling overhead usually- they fly in an arc instead of the V of a canada goose.

-The hybridizing link is pretty interesting- certainly a possibility. In our area we get Mallards and Black ducks mixing.

That looks a lot like the goose on my pond but... If you google snow geese you will see images of geese that look much different, much whiter.
I'm thinking these waterfowl are interbreeding more frequently than one would expect.
On the Confusing Domestic goose thread:
The image of the swan goose looks to be an African goose with the large irregular beak.
African goose - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Swan Goose - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia