Natural History

Goose dog

February 25, 2013 by SWestfall3

Source for image

Posted in golden retriever, working dogs, working retrievers | Tagged Canada goose., golden retriever, red golden retriever, working golden retriever | 8 Comments

8 Responses

1. on February 25, 2013 at 3:25 pm massugu

   I suspect that pate they mention is a whole lot lower in fat than the standard version–and you don’t have to force-feed a goose to get it.

   
   
2. on February 25, 2013 at 5:48 pm chervilmeadow

   Our commonest goose in the UK these days is the canada goose, branta something. It was introduced many decades ago and does not migrate like the ones back home in Canada. During recent decades, the population of this handsome species has increased greatly, for example near here along the river Thames where they tend to nest a lot on the islands in the river, where it is mainly safe for them.

   Basically, they have become to seem almost tame. At popular river bank walking areas, such as at Marlow and Henley, they get fed stale bread by the public, especially in the colder months, as do all of the other river birds, without discrimination, like ducks, swans moorhens, cormorants, coots, grebes and many others.There are even thought to be more of that really beautiful exotic asiatic species, the mandarin duck ,on English rivers than in its native habitat. No one shoots water birds in these areas, where they act tamely and are highly regarded by the Brits as ornamental species. However, the canada goose can be a bit of a nuisance because of its copious droppings on banks where they roost in large and increasing numbers. Mainly, they just eat grass and we can spare a lot of that except when it becomes discharged in the form most foul shoe defiling excrement.

   Only the mute swan seems to have suffered a drop in numbers recently, from some diease, I believe, but there are still plenty of them although in recent times there has been a slight tendency for east european immigrants to catch some of them for food. That’s a definite no-no as many are supposed to be owned by the queen and are tagged as such would you believe.

   
   
   • on February 26, 2013 at 10:30 am massugu

     The same applies here Peter. There are actually several subspecies of Branta canadensis and I wouldn’t be surprised if eventually many of those local, nonmigratory birds speciate as well, due to genetic drift.

     As for Mute Swans, they’re a pest species here in MD (estimated 4000+ in MD waters att), bullying and even killing native species. Here too certain immigrant communities catch and eat them–much to the horror of some urban & suburban water fowl admirers and in violation of some municipal regulations. Why it should be illegal in some places I don’t know, as they’re now excluded from protection under the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me as we end having to pay rangers to risk life and limb addling the eggs as a control measure. (Maybe we could just ship them all back to the Mother Country?)

     
     
   • on February 28, 2013 at 6:07 am bearcoatpei

     I wonder why they’d eat swans rather than the glut of Canada geese we seem to have in England. They can’t taste worse than swans, which reputedly taste bloody awful. The bearcoat isn’t Eastern European, but she thinks the honking shit machines on the canal look very tasty indeed. Were it not for me cramping her style by locking the flexilead, she’d be sampling their epicurean delights.

     
     
3. on February 25, 2013 at 6:38 pm Jessica

   I wonder how canada geese taste. Hm.

   
   
   • on February 25, 2013 at 7:14 pm retrieverman

     Barely edible. That’s why there are so many of the damn things.

     
     
     • on February 26, 2013 at 12:45 pm Jessica

       I wonder how they are curried.

       
       
       • on February 26, 2013 at 5:26 pm massugu

         I suspect they’d be fine curried. I’ve eaten them and they tasted fine to me–there’s a whole slew of goose hunters who agree w/ me too (try entering “eating Canada Goose” in Google). For a lot of people they’re a turn-off because they’re so ubiquitous and dirty, others ay they’re gamey. But many epicures compare the meat to beef. So if you get a chance, give it a try–ya might like ’em, ya might not.

         Here’s a quote from lady who had never tried them before:
         “The meat was dark as liver, and earthy too, but not greasy or gamey. It was delicious. Aside from the lead shot my husband found embedded in his dinner, the Canada Goose made for a delicious meal and even our kids loved it. As for the debate about whether or not to eat the birds, I now wholeheartedly fall into the eat ’em camp. This summer, Canada Geese that strayed too close to New York City’s airport were culled and shipped to Pennsylvania to be offered in food banks there. But if Manhattan’s chefs knew how scrumptious those birds were, there’s no way they would have left the island.”

         
         

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