Alfie's Goose is Cooked!

I know that I have mentioned the six Egyptian Geese that Nicola and her goose Peta are raising?

Well, these little souls are growing by the day and are now quite adept at grazing with their large foster mother every evening on the Scott's lawn. We were chatting to them the other evening (are you surprised? I thought not!) and we realised that the six littlies arrived on Christmas Eve.

Peta and her brood. (Pics thanks to Rob)

This got us thinking about names for them, and the game was on! We came up with Holly, Ivy, Tinsel, Rudolph, Carol, and wait for it, Mistletoe. But, as we were debating who was who, Nicola picked up the smallest of the flock (?) and mentioned that it had a sore foot, so we decided that the name Mistletoe was very apt. However, as she held it and we all made 'aaahh' noises, a look of concentration came over its little face and it dropped a large poo a hair's breadth away from Nicloa's foot! So, guess what we changed the name to Missile-toe! Clever hey?

Peta sees Alfie.

Alfie was pottering around watching and sniffing and generally minding his own business while keeping a wary eye on Astro, their little Jack Russell, who is very possessive about the geese. But, Peta suddenly realised that he was there, and fairly close to her brood, so she spread her wings and flew at him. He got a fright and ducked behind Rob's legs but it didn't help, and eventually Peta chased him round the corner with his tail tucked firmly under his bottom!

Even mum couldn't help!

Then Peta decided that Emma was too close too and off she set again!

Ready, steady, run!

By now we were laughing, but keeping an eye open in case Peta changed direction and headed our way!
Astro was the next target even though she guards them all from harm, and Peta managed a firm nip on her tail! Astro didn't laugh, but we did!

Astro on guard duty.

I wonder if the babies will return when they have flown for the first time? Will they return for a few nights before they venture further away? Will they stick together as a family? Will they remember this place and come back to breed, or will they join other families and become lost in the crowd?

And I wonder if Peta will miss them when they go?