#mikedigout

#mikedigout

Escorting 54 Goslings Across a RoadMike Digout (previously) has a YouTube channel called Mike’s Videos of Beavers, but we are enamored with his observations of Canada geese. Just yesterday, he recorded video of a gaggle of geese and all their goslings crossing busy Spadina Crescent in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Why did they cross the road? To get to the other side! But it's not that easy with all these youngsters. The leader waits for the right minute when no traffic is seen, and holds his/her head high while leading the parade. Yeah, he/she could go faster, but the babies couldn't. For the goslings, the street was easy, all you have to do is follow the leader. The hardest part for them was surmounting the curb on the other side. Today, Digout filmed the gaggle of geese doing something more up their alley- swimming.

Mother Goose and 47 GoslingsMike Digout has been studying and recording beavers in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, since the beginning of the pandemic. But he keeps an eye out for other wildlife, too. Canada geese use the riverbank to nest and hatch their goslings. He noticed one mother goose has 16 goslings swimming behind her, which is a big family. But at a later date, she was leading 25 fluffy babies, then 30... and Digout finally caught her one day leading a pack of 47 goslings! Surely she didn't lay that many eggs. No, it turns out that she was babysitting. This is called "gang brooding," and it happens where there are a lot of nests. This goose was particularly good at looking after the goslings of other families to give their mothers a break. Still, 47 seems to be pushing the limit, even for a mother goose. See lots more pictures of this goose with her gang at the Dodo.(Image credit: Mike Digout)#goose #Canadagoose #gosling #MikeDigout  