South for the Winter - Story of Lucy the Canada Goose

It's now almost the end of November, and Lucky and Lucy are still with us. Now they are spending their nights in our heated storage garage where they have plenty of food, water and straw. When the weather permits, we take them down to the pond where there is still a small open area. They get cleaned up, eat and visit with the few wild ducks that haven't left the area yet. We try to allow them time during the day to roam around the yard and eat what's left of the grass and grass/weed seeds.

You may ask, "What happened to the plan to introduce Lucy to a flock of wild geese?" After some additional research on the internet, we discovered that goslings spend the first year of life with their parents. A Goose family isn't likely to accept an orphan into their family. We also know that Lucy has never flown far enough or long enough to really build up strength for the long flight South.

We also needed to consider what would happen to Lucky once Lucy was gone. We have absolutely no plans to eat her, and if we have to keep a duck throughout the Winter, why not keep the goose too?

I'm sure we could come up with many reasons why Lucy isn't ready to leave us, but the main reason is we aren't ready for her to leave. Lucy and Lucky have become part of our family. Maybe after caring for them throughout the Winter we will be more than ready for them leave next Spring...we will see.