Rumble At The Pond

rum-ble noun informal   a street fight between gangs or large groups

From the first days when they return and the pond is still frozen, I enjoy watching the geese.

(February 21st)

Make no mistake - this is their pond. The same pair returns year-after-year to hatch and raise their little ones.
For several days other geese will land on the pond and each time the gander chases them away.
(March 1st)

Last fall, after the geese left, I realized these two had laid claim to the pond. Muskrats Susie and Sam. I wondered if they stayed under the ice all winter.
(December 14th)

This morning I watched as one of the muskrats swam across the pond following the geese. The geese got out. The muskrat followed, chasing them across the grass. I had never seen that before!

The rumble was on. The gander lowered his head and took after the muskrat which went back into the pond.
Round 1 to the gander.

He then delivered his lady love safely to the nest.

Where she will remain for the next 25 to 30 days. So somewhere around the middle of April we will find out how many little goslings there are this year.




I feel like the geese should have names if the muskrats do. How about Bernie and Belle?

I wonder if there will be any more rumbles at the pond between the gander and the muskrat or between the gander and other geese interlopers?

It was just by chance that I happened to see this morning's tiff. You can bet I'll be watching for any further skirmishes.