Giant Canada geese, photo by Bryant Olsen
Mark first learned about giant Canada geese in March of 1970 when he helped DNR move pinioned adults at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area from their winter pens to their summer pen. It was exciting to capture the birds in “musky nets”. Their offspring would then fly out of the summer pens to establish a population in the local area.
The giant Canada goose, Branta canadensis maxima is the largest subspecies of Canada goose and often weighs 12 pounds.
David Graber and John Coluccy, Ducks Unlimited Biologists wrote the following: Understanding Waterfowl: Story of the Giants
“By the early 20th century, however, giant Canada geese had been extirpated throughout most of their range as a result of unregulated hunting, egg collecting, and habitat destruction. In fact, this subspecies was thought to be extinct for nearly three decades until Harold C. Hanson of the Illinois Natural History Survey discovered a small remnant population near Rochester, MN during the early 1960s. Other isolated populations, including captive flocks kept by aviculturists, were subsequently identified and served as sources for restoration efforts led by conservation agencies. These birds were larger than other Canada geese and didn't migrate in fall, which gave rise to the common misconception that they had domestic origins.”
In Wisconsin owners of some breweries had flocks of giant geese that they acquired decades ago. Those birds helped provide the breeding stock for Wisconsin. Geese like to graze and rest in short grass near water. Ponds surrounded with mowed grass and golf courses provide ideal habitat for them but usually the landowners would like to see a lot less geese in these areas. DNR waterfowl biologists estimate that in 2017 the giant population in Wisconsin was 158,000.
The first time in the 20th century that Canada geese probably nested at Goose Pond was in 1996. We are not sure if Goose Pond was named for Canada geese that stopped in fall and spring migration or for giant geese that probably nested in the 1850s to 1870’s when the area was being settled and ponds were being named.
Usually we have a pair or two that raise young but in the high water years of 2019 and 2020 we had six to seven broods. Goose Pond would probably be a better habitat for giant geese if we mowed the adjacent upland habitat now planted to prairie. However, that is not going to happen.
At Goose Pond the geese usually nest on muskrat houses in deeper water where they have a better chance of avoiding predators such as coyotes and raccoons. On April 3rd, the Goose Pond webcam showed a goose nesting on a large muskrat house close to the pond edge. JD Arnston provided us with webcam clips related to the geese at Goose Pond. The first clip is of the nesting pair on April 14th.
Goose pairs mate for life, but only the female incubates. One day, we noticed that the female not at the nest was probably out feeding. She returned to a short time later. The female usually lays five to six eggs. The first day we saw her on the nest was on April 3rd and with a 28 day incubation period she could hatch on or near May Day. We will keep the webcam focused on the nest around that time to see if we can observe the hatching.
An April 7th clip Goose Pond Lightning shows the geese on the pond during a thunderstorm.
The geese are probably thinking “we hope that the lighting does not strike the pond.” Luckily for the geese lightning strikes are rare. A 2018 a Canadian report quotes a veterinarian who examined 50 dead Canada geese in open water and said “that the geese had small lesions in their hearts that indicated a possible lightning strike.”
On April 11th we had the webcam playing in the background and at 9:22 p.m., we heard a coyote yipping and howling adjacent to the house. Coyote Barking (Howling) clip
Our three dogs jumped up and began barking. Phoebe, our female golden retriever ran to the computer with a canted head and then we learned that the coyote was probably on the railroad tracks adjacent to the webcam. We moved the webcam around but could not locate the coyote.
The coyote clip also shows that the geese swam in toward the west where the coyote was. We have only seen this observation once or twice before during the day on the east pond where ducks and geese were attracted to a red fox running along the shoreline. This observation was probably from the 1980s when red foxes were common. They became very uncommon in southern Wisconsin after the coyotes moved in and took over the foxes territories.
The Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever is a breed of dog that was developed by 19th-century sportsmen in Canada to capitalize on the waterfowl behavior of following the movements of wild canines like foxes along shorelines. Sometimes called “decoy dogs”, these small retrievers with fox-like characteristics are left to play along shorelines where their size, red color and quick movements attract the attention of waterfowl who move toward shore to have a better look. In Wisconsin we have never heard of anyone having a tolling retriever.
A friend called one night and said that it was nice to see what the pond looks like at night, saying that “it looks like the reflection from geese eyes are like small flashlights.” The webcam has infrared capabilities that can light up the foreground and the geese eyes.
The March 22 webcam overview of the pond provides a good video on the “tundra” geese spending a month at Goose Pond. On the evening of April 15th many geese still were present at the pond. They have been spending much of the day feeding and resting in picked cornfields. Their goal is to put on weight and rest up for the long flight to Hudson Bay. The adults know that they should not leave too early because when they arrive they probably will have many days of winter with little food. Our nesting pair will probably miss their friends but the female will be able to get more sleep with less “goose music”. It is interesting that giant geese young are present before the tundra geese begin nesting. However, the tundra geese young will have more daylight hours to feed and be ready for their first migration to Goose Pond.
Written by Mark and Susan Foote-Martin, Goose Pond Sanctuary resident co-managers
