Mellow bird

My heart knows what the wild goose knows,
I must go where the wild goose goes.
--Tennessee Ernie Ford

But where does the wild goose go?  And when?

I was wondering that today as I walked across campus -- keeping an eye on the Canada geese surrounding me on all sides.  Didn't  they used to stop by campus just twice a year, like Midwestern retirees, on their way south and north?  This year, they clearly haven't been going anywhere.  They were here in the summer, and they're here in the winter.

I can't recall ever seeing any formations of geese flying overhead.

The UW campus seems to suit them just dandy.  Lots of goosey treats snuggled in the lawns, apparently, just waiting to be eaten.   Students walk carefully around the munching geese as they walk from class to class.  The geese?  They aren't much inclined to get out of anyone's way.  Fearful, they are not.  They strut, they honk, they ... they leave their calling cards.  On the lawns, on the sidewalks.

Why aren't these migratory geese migrating, I wondered.  It's been a mild winter.  Maybe with the still unaddressed problem of global warming, the geese are losing their migratory instincts?  Maybe Seattle's becoming an all-year goose paradise?  Another thing to blame on the Republicans!

The Canada goose, or Branta canadensis, is native to our continent.  It's found from Mexico to the Arctic.  Canada geese do, in fact, migrate south to winter residences, and then back north again for summer.  But -- and this surprised me -- Seattle has always lain right smack in the middle of a narrow band of territory where the climate is so salubrious as to permit the birds to hang out year-around. 

Moreover, our local subspecies, Branta canadensis fulva, or the Vancouver Canada goose, has increasingly interbred with B.c. maxima, the Giant Canada goose, a subspecies that was once nearly extinct.  The Giant subspecies is nonmigratory by nature, and his half breed kids have inherited his lackadaisical attitude.  In other words, the entire species is becoming increasingly nonmigratory, regardless of where they live.

As Wikipedia puts it:

In recent years, Canada Goose populations in some areas have grown substantially, so much so that many consider them pests for their droppings, bacteria in their droppings, noise, and confrontational behavior. This problem is partially due to the removal of natural predators and an abundance of safe, man-made bodies of water near food sources, such as those found on golf courses, in public parks and beaches, and in planned communities.

And college campuses.  Indeed.  The Wikipedia writers also note the tendency of Canada geese to attack humans when they feel threatened.  They hiss.  They threaten back.  They charge.  If you're still around, they attack physically with tooth and claw.  Well, actually, with wing and beak. 

Sounds scary, but our campus birds are pretty mellow.  They know a good thing when they see it.  And -- despite all I say -- they're a pretty handsome bird.  They share a mutual tolerance with the equally mellow college students, and are actually kind of nice to have around.

Unless, of course, you want to sit on the lawn.