Wild domestic goose (Genus anser)
“Gooses, geeses, I want my geese to lay gold eggs for Easter!” We have to admit this week’s crawly probably doesn’t lay golden eggs (even with eggs currently worth their weight in gold), not even for the upcoming Easter holiday, but they’re still nifty birds. Meet the wild domestic goose (Genus anser).
Geese were one of the first animals to be domesticated around 3,000 years ago. Despite their long history of domestication, now and then domesticated geese opt out of the free-food-in-exchange-for-eggs life and head out into the wild where they carry on quite successfully.
Geese Gone Wild, as it were, have some advantages and can remain healthy and happy having left the farm.
The pictured trio of GGWs are graylag geese (Anser anser) and it’s not uncommon to see GGWs of this species around Oregon. There are 173 recorded sightings on iNaturalist.
The pictured trio have been living the wild life up and down a roughly 12 mile stretch of the river for at least three years – which takes us back to advantages; how do such stand out geese survive in a world where they are on everyone’s menu?
Domesticated graylags (and all other domesticated breeds of geese) are – by goose standards – ginormous.
Again we draw your attention to the photo; the two small geese with the single GGW are wild greater white-fronted geese. A wild graylag would only be a bit larger than the white-fronted, whereas our GGW graylag towers over them.
Domestic geese have been bred to produce larger eggs and lots of meat, but many species have retained their ability to fly.
If you’ve ever met a domesticated goose in real life, you know they are not to be trifled with. While some species can make excellent pets, they make better “guard dogs” as most would just as soon bite you as not.
Fun fact: Those bites can leave nasty bruises and scratches; geese have sharp teeth-like structures lining their beaks.
So many would-be GGW predators will pass them by for an easier and less fighty-backy meal.
Because GGWs are clearly domestic fowl, anyone who might be inclined to take a goose for food would assume a GGW was someone’s property and leave it be.
Here we pause to say leaving a domesticated goose alone is just the all-around best advice we can give. Maybe they’re GGWs, but maybe they belong to your neighbor. Fully domesticated geese sometimes have a lot of freedom. See our photos once again; the pictured blue-eyed Roman geese (descendants/subspecies of graylag geese) were my neighbors’ but swam up and down the river a little way and visited various folks’ yards. They were savvy enough to return home for a nice free meal and comfy bed every night. They weren’t very adventurous and liked their cushy, domestic life.
GGWs will also sometimes join in with flocks of other geese, such as Canada geese, giving them an added layer of “safety in numbers.” Occasionally the GGWs will even hybridize with the Canada geese raising a new generation of wild-looking and truly wild goslings.