Many people have been conditioned to be afraid of geese . They have a reputation for being aggressive and there are no shortage of stories from people who have been chased and bitten by geese while they were seemingly minding their own business. If you've spent time near a lake, chances are you've had an encounter with a goose that was likely less than ideal.
This level of perceived and actual aggression would lead most people to believe that the fat bottomed waterfowl naturally hates humans. But do they ? Recently a woman who runs the account, The Dog Moms on TikTok , uploaded a video of her seeing what would happen if she pretended to faint in front of her gaggle of geese. The geese reacted in a surprising way.
According to Varment Guard Wildlife Services geese will aggressively honk, flap their wings and run after you because they're protective, don't like to share, aren't easily scared and they're used to humans because they see them all the time.
"Male geese (ganders) guard the females and the nests while eggs are incubated. Ganders do not take their protective duties lightly. If anyone gets close to their nests, they are not afraid of getting defensive. Ganders will continue to patrol the area and honk, hiss, or get physically violent until the eggs have hatched," the wildlife service says.
Canada Goose Birds GIF by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Giphy
Since people are used to the seemingly aggressive nature of geese, seeing the woman's gaggle go running to her aid is helping people see them in a different light. One goose who looks like he's straight out of the Mother Goose story, ran through a small patch of watermelons, face plants after tripping over one and still makes it to the woman first.
His little fluffy tushy looks like a feather duster, but he was so determined to see if the woman was ok that he didn't seem to care that he tripped. A commenter points out, "of course it was the Toulouse goose first. That's why those are the type of geese in nursery rhymes. Aside from looking like they have a feather duster for a bottom, Toulouse geese are known to be docile and enjoy the company of humans.
Chances are this type of goose isn't the one doing the aggressive chasing, flapping and biting out in the wild. But the other geese in the video aren't Toulouse geese. They're the typical geese most people are accustom to seeing around bodies of water yet they all went running to the woman to check on her. It almost looked as if they were attempting to devise a plan to help the woman up but were unsure what to do about their lack of arms.
The geese honked frantically switching between looking and honking at each other to looking and honking at the woman on the ground. After a few seconds of confused geese chaos, the woman could tell they were genuinely worried and decided to show them that she was okay.
birds goose GIF Giphy
Commenters couldn't get enough of the geese frenzied geese running to try to save their owner.
"That first grey goose said "help is on the way dear," someone laughs.
Another person declares, "If you don't go hug the one that looks like a feather duster I'm gonna cry more!"
"The way that baby tripped over a melon for you! That is pure love right there," someone else writes.
Goose Waddle GIF by The Great British Bake Off Giphy
"Never knew geese could be so loyal, look at them running to save you," another says.
"Fluffy loves you the most. Was prepared to break a chicken ankle on a watermelon for you," someone jokes while someone else compared the compassionate goos behavior to their cat's behavior, "for contrast, my cat tripped me on a flight of stairs while I was moving house, and while I was semi knocked out and laying face down the stairwell she hopped up on my back and started making biscuits and purring." Maybe the cat was just assuming the human was hungry so it made biscuits...let's go with that.
Either way, what a sweet gaggle of geese showing the world that geese may not be mean at all, just a little misunderstood.
Local News
