Two weeks ago, when Brian went down to let the birds out for the day, he found that our beloved pilgrim goose, Elsie, had died in the night.
She'd been a little "off" for a few days, so it wasn't completely unexpected, but it hurts all the same. She was almost 13 years old, and there wasn't a day since she came to us as a three-day old gosling that she didn't make me smile.
Geese get a lot of bad press, but female Pilgrim geese are sweet-natured and gentle. Even the ganders are only a bit troublesome during the mating season.
We hatched our first gosling, Willow, under a broody hen in 2005. Willow and I always had a special bond. The next year, she raised Elsie and Ben, special-ordered from Oregon, along with her own mixed-breed goslings. Unfortunately, Pilgrim geese are prone to low fertility rates, so we never managed to raise any of our own. I had hoped to help establish the breed more strongly in this part of Ontario, but it didn't work out that way.
Elsie's passing marks the end our our homesteading ventures. Since then, without her protection, we lost our remaining two hens to predators. We'd never had a daytime loss in over ten years, and I attribute that to the geese. It's sad, but I feel truly blessed to have had those many years with the chickens, rabbits and geese. Especially the geese, Elsie and Willow.
So sorry to hear of Elsie's passing Maggie. I know how fond you were of her having seen all the times you brought her up in your posts. Water fowl are very entertaining to have around. Better that ANY alarm system you could ever buy!
