Goose Territorial Defense: Get off my land!

All photos by Jonathan Schechter,  Erie County N.Y. & Oakland County, MI   May 2014

Canada Geese are great parents. And they do not like intruders when nesting season arrives.

And one pair of Canada geese that has taken up housekeeping at the Ramada Inn in Getzville N.Y. uses a light post for a look out station and when hordes of humans approach from tour buses destined for nearby Niagara Falls it's time for their territorial defense action plan. The geese honk, wing flap and make impressive power dives warning humans to keep back.   And they mean business; so much so that hotel management posted signs in Japanese on the doorways to advise their Japanese clientele that geese may not be cuddly and a wary eye is in order.

The nests are easy to approach for what is more perfect for a goose than the median strip!

On the other side of the creek  the geese have found the living easy at an independent living facility and that management too is now warning their guest of the territorial defense in no uncertain terms.

And back in the rolling hills of  lake-studded Brandon Township, Michigan one pair of geese has hired an "alarm company" to warn of intruders. They have built their nest at the edge of a small lake in Sandhill Crane habitat.  Those geese activate their territorial defense needs based on the behavior of the keen-eyed cranes.