It's not the geese. I have no problem with them. It's people who need a little advice, specifically, people who brake for geese.
I was stuck once more in horrible traffic. It was a long, long, line. All of us backed up behind some misguided soul who stopped for a flock of geese. I know she meant well. I can't take it any more, though. I have to put this out there. I have to get the word out.
DON'T STOP FOR GEESE!
Really, don't do it. Unlike squirrels, opossum, skunks, and other critters, geese seem to have some sense around cars. How often do you see a dead goose in the middle of the road? You don't see that much, right?
Right.
Here's what you do: when geese swarm the road, you slow down, but keep driving. The geese will get out of the way. Then, both humans and geese can proceed. Got it?
Geese understand moving cars. Hmmm, here comes this big thing that might run over me. I think I'll get out of here. And they do. A stopped car, however, just confuses them. A stopped car poses no threat, so they ignore it. They don't know you're trying to go somewhere. They don't know you're late. And even if they did, what good would that do?
So, if you're one of those misguided souls, now you know: DON'T STOP FOR GEESE! Just slow down. You hear all that honking and yelling behind you? We're not mad at the geese. We're mad at you.
Just so you know.
Very Truly Yours,
Porcupine
9 comments:
Yeah, geese will not move unless you give them reason to do so. They flock all over the field at Cleveland Circle and, until someone starts running at them with a bat, waving his arms, they'll just keep on eating and pooping right where they are.
(By the way, we never hit them with the bat. They move before it comes to that. And there is precious little as funny, in the early morning, as a softball player in full uniform chasing after a flock of geese waving a bat. You have to be there, though. Trust me - funny.)
i am with you...we get several herds at the lake nearby and people are al the time stopping...ack.
Bwahahahahaha! Indeed, Porcupine!
When we lived in SW Colorado, it would freak me out to see tourists stop for sheep that had strayed from the herd, and found it's stupid way into the middle of the highway. If you stop for a sheep, it will stand there and look at you for hours, or until it dies of old age.
I have actually gotten out of my car, approached the frozen foreigner and told them "Go ahead and put your car in drive, and slowly approach the sheep. It will move off the road, and the rest of us behind you can get where we are going."
Funny...
We don't have many stray geese around these parts, but I'm trusting your advice if I ever run across one.
I am sure why the stopped driver was waiting, the person fed the geese something as well--nothing like doing everything wrong.
Andy - It's not so much stray geese we have, but enormous flocks of wild ones. 50-100 per flock is not unusual. They don't seem to migrate or, if they do, they're replaced by other flocks. At any rate, we have 'em year-round.
Funny about the sheep. Yeah, sheep aren't the brightest. I once heard a great sermon about how dumb sheep are and how they really, really need a shepherd. Heh, heh. Baaa.
Slamdunk - Hey, thanks for stopping by.
Well, maybe they did feed the geese. That's not wise though. As per above, the flocks are quite large and will get pretty aggressive if you try to feed them. You'd need an awful lot of bread just for your own safety.
The bigger problem is that some pretty major roads run right through the park. They get busy if there are traffic problems nearby and people use 'em to bypass. Then, if someone stops, they get surrounded by a flock and the roads back right up. If you get caught in that, most of the time, you can't even turn around. You're done. Oy.
and ducks and chickens...
Ha ha! So true. Though they have become such pests around here that it is tempting to just mow them down. Aside from the fact that it's illegal, they would, as you say, get out of the way. Drat ;)
I do think they're beautiful--in the sky.
Let me start by saying how much comfort you gave to me on my blog post. You said people don't "pass away", then "pass within". What a beautiful saying! I have felt my dear husband "within" but thought maybe I was nuts. Or not able to handle grief. Thank you for reinforcing my feelings of feeling him within. Now when somebody says to me "so-and-so passed away", I will pass along your saying (if appropriate, of course).
Ah geese - they do look majestic as they take to the skies early spring and fall. We don't have them flocking the roads here - at least I haven't seen any. I would probably gently brake for them, but now I won't. I don't brake for squirrels or other critters - I've heard about too many people being injured or killed because someone braked to save a chipmunk's life. So I don't.
Nice pic of the goose. My dear hubby always liked geese (they mate for life).
Hugs
I've never actually seen geese just hanging around on the road. I've seen families of young crossing though, and they do so in rather quick time. For this, I have no doubt that you'd stop for a moment.
I'd so love to be around with a camera when Suldog is chasing geese from the field. ;)
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