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Opinion
Yellow Bird: Admire, but don't pet, the wild geese


"A Canada goose usually doesn't make headlines, and rarely do you see this common bird on national television. But this week, CNN ran a story about a Canada goose who took over the rooftop of a store. The black-necked, brownish goose with white cheeks dive-bombed passers-by. It gave the pedestrians an authoritative nip that must have scared the town folks into wondering whether Mother Nature had turned on them.

The last I saw, the television goose was a dark tail flying over a building, and I could find no more information about the incident - including its location, or what happened to the big goose that set out to take back its territory.

And while it was funny to watch that goose, I know a nip from any goose really hurts. When I was a child on the reservation, my grandmother always had a flock of tame white geese (actually, the word "tame" is debatable). They were pretty much the same size as Canada geese. These big white birds had the run of the place, and if we weren't careful and got too close to them, they'd take after us with their wings spread wide and flapping.

I remember running for the house with a big goose's beak tightly gripping my leg, its wings flapping furiously and feathers flying all over. From the corner of my eye, I could see my cousin-brothers laughing hysterically."

Get the Story:
COLUMNIST DORREEN YELLOW BIRD : Don't pet, but do admire geese (The Grand Forks Herald 4/11)

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