Parenting has its difficulties whether you have one child, two, three, or more. It’s not uncommon to have several children, but what if you had to take care of 47?
Yes, you heard that right, 47. Could you handle that many children? That is how many goslings one Canadian goose has to look after, and she does it so well with the help of her mate!
Successfully keeping all 47 goslings safe in Saskatoon, Canada, as reported by amateur photographer, Mike Digout who started walking every day along the Saskatchewan riverbank since work from home started.
He would carry his camera on those walks taking photos of the wildlife, specifically looking for beavers and not caring too much about geese. That is until he realized there was a lot of geese activity; he started taking pictures of them saying,
“They’re so cute when they’re little—like little tennis balls with legs.”
Then, Mike came across this “super” mother goose. Initially, when Mike spotted this goose with a large group of goslings, he counted 16 little birds. However, the next day he counted 30, and the day after, 47.
“I was stunned that this mom had 16 babies, so I started going back every night looking for this mom and her goslings. The group got bigger by the day.”
You might be wondering, do all of these goslings belong to this one mother goose? The answer to that question is no. The goslings came from different families, but it is not uncommon for geese to take care of each other’s young.
This is known as gang brood, and it helps keep goslings safe from predators as gosling are very independent and can wander off.
It’s nice to think that the other parent geese are getting a night off from their children, but chances are they are also looking after some gosling!
But even though they aren’t all hers, watching 47 goslings is no easy task and requires a lot of patience and skill.
Mike says, “It was incredible how calm she was with so many goslings around. She seems like such a patient mom.”
But even moms need help sometimes, and that is where her mate comes in, helping her guide the goslings around the riverbank.
Since Mike’s documentation of the “super” mother and the goslings, the gang brood has been divided into three large family units. But this particular goose and her mate are still looking after 25 goslings. And if there is anything parents know it’s the teenage years can be pretty tricky!
Do geese have teenage years? We’re unsure, but either way, this mother goose and her partner will do just fine.
Even though goslings might be cute, you should remember that they are still wild animals and shouldn’t be approached as the adult geese will not react so kindly. It is best to enjoy them from a distance.
Be sure to watch the video below and see this extraordinary mother goose and the 47 cute goslings for yourself.
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