- Mike was making his usual walk along the riverbank when he spotted a mother goose with an unusually large group of goslings.
- As he observed them each night, it seemed like the group’s numbers increased, until he counted about 47 goslings!
- It turns out that the remarkable mother goose had been looking after the whole brood’s babies, and cared for all of them like her own.
Mike Digout started walking along the Saskatchewan riverbank near his Saskatoon home ever since the shift to working from home. He had been bringing along his camera for some wildlife photography. One day, he spotted an extraordinary sight: a mother goose watching over a very large number of goslings.
Mike shared, “I was out every night walking on the riverbank looking for beavers and, of course, there was a lot of geese activity as they were coming from the south and looking for a place to nest.”
He observed the geese as they fought over the most optimal places to nest and protected their offspring.
Mike noticed the first hatched goslings in May.
“They’re so cute when they’re little — like little tennis balls with legs,” he shared.
Mike was mesmerized when he saw a mother goose watching over an unusually large group of goslings. He counted 16 goslings under her wings!
The little ones had crawled under her feathers to sleep for the night.
“I was stunned that this mom had 16 babies, so I started going back every night looking for this mom and her goslings. And every day it seemed like she had a bigger group,” he shared.
As each day passed, he counted more and more goslings — from 25, to 30, to finally 47!
Mike realized that the mother goose has been looking after the whole brood‘s babies like her own!
The mother goose was doing a remarkable job.
He shared, “It was incredible how calm she was with so many goslings around. She seems like such a patient mom.”
Now that the goslings have grown bigger, they can no longer fit under the mother goose’s wings, so they all sleep in a big pile while she watches over them.
The brood has since split into three groups, but the amazing mama and her mate are still looking after 25 goslings.
It seems like they will continue to do so until it’s time for all of them to fly back south.
Source: The Dodo