# Canada Geese



## Jerry in MN (Dec 2, 2007)

Honkers were still migrating through northern Minnesota yesterday, November 25th. Seems odd because they were already flying south here two full months ago!


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

Jerry in MN said:


> Honkers were still migrating through northern Minnesota yesterday, November 25th. Seems odd because they were already flying south here two full months ago!



Someone didn't get the memo that it was time to migrate south?


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Geese often won't move until all surrounding waters are frozen. If there's open water and available food, they stay all winter. Good chance of having them flying over here 365 days a year.

Martin


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

This is just the start of strange sights as our climate changes.

We've had leaves on the trees until late October, green grass until probably early December, frogs sitting on the banks of my ponds in late November, lakes open until December, lakes frozen in early October.

When it starts affecting our food supply people will finally wake up.


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## Cornhusker (Mar 20, 2003)

fishhead said:


> This is just the start of strange sights as our climate changes.
> 
> We've had leaves on the trees until late October, green grass until probably early December, frogs sitting on the banks of my ponds in late November, lakes open until December, lakes frozen in early October.
> 
> When it starts affecting our food supply people will finally wake up.


People are awake and aware.
It's just that there's not much you can do about naturally occurring climate change.
Well, maybe we could buy carbon credits, or just send cash to Al Gore and see if that helps. :shrug:


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## Pops2 (Jan 27, 2003)

what he said x2


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

We have Canadian Geese year-around here, too bad  There are too many and have taken over too many parks in nearby towns. Fortunately, the parks near us are waterfront to Hood Canal, so they don't frequent them. Yes the weather is strange...we seemed to skip Spring go straight into Summer, skip Fall, and then into Winter.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

There are 11 recognized species of Canada geese and all have different habits. Not certain which is involved but one has always been a non-migrator in this state for as long as records have been kept. They are also the biggest at up to 20 pounds. And now there are too blasted many of them! 

Martin


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## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

Seems strange around here also - leastwise about the geese.......
Normally by now, the bulk of the geese have flown over and we get the occasional V of stragglers. So far though it only seems as the stragglers are going South; haven't had the bulk of the flocks flying over as yet......
Humm, wonder if'n next year the DEC will be changing hunting season dates to accommodate the changing patterns?????

As a side note: The guys that come up here to deer hunt have been sayin' that the rut which is usually in full swing by now hasn't really begun and that it looks as though the season will be over before the "rut" starts. Guess that that will mean fawns dropping in June and July instead of April, May.


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

Paquebot said:


> There are 11 recognized species of Canada geese and all have different habits. Not certain which is involved but one has always been a non-migrator in this state for as long as records have been kept. They are also the biggest at up to 20 pounds. And now there are too blasted many of them!
> 
> Martin


they taste great as sausages or pepperettes!:icecream: even roasted in the oven they are pretty good!


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I was talking to the farmer that sells me hay. After a touch and go season they finally got some corn. Then came a month of cold rain. He could do nothing but watch the corn sit in the field and mold.

If the climate changes over large areas it could very well affect OUR food supply and not just the cows.


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## Jerry in MN (Dec 2, 2007)

Saw another southbound flock today, darn near December!


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## mdharris68 (Sep 28, 2006)

fishhead said:


> This is just the start of strange sights as our climate changes.
> 
> We've had leaves on the trees until late October, green grass until probably early December, frogs sitting on the banks of my ponds in late November, lakes open until December, lakes frozen in early October.
> 
> When it starts affecting our food supply people will finally wake up.


Give it ten or twenty years and the pendulum will swing the other way. It is kind of weird though hearing frogs when sitting in my deer stand.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

That would be great if it were true but we continue to pump CO2 into the atmosphere and if the temp gets high enough to release the massive amount of CH4 stored in wetlands of the northern latitudes it will be game over. CO2 levels are already significantly higher than at any time in the past one million years. Methane (CH4) is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas.


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

fishhead said:


> That would be great if it were true but we continue to pump CO2 into the atmosphere and if the temp gets high enough to release the massive amount of CH4 stored in wetlands of the northern latitudes it will be game over. CO2 levels are already significantly higher than at any time in the past one million years. Methane (CH4) is 20 times more potent as a greenhouse gas.


Well, if that's the case it's probably a good thing that most wetlands were drained decades ago. We should stop restoring wetlands now!


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## Cabin Fever (May 10, 2002)

Paquebot said:


> There are 11 recognized species of Canada geese and all have different habits.....


I had no idea there were more than one specie of Canada geese. I learn something everyday on this forum. Thanks for the info.

You would happen to have a link that describes the 11 Canada geese species?


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Cabin Fever said:


> Well, if that's the case it's probably a good thing that most wetlands were drained decades ago. We should stop restoring wetlands now!


Hardly. Restoring wetlands returns them to storing carbon. Draining allows the release of stored methane.

The frozen wetlands of the far north have sequestered massive amounts of methane. If they warm enough to thaw the methane is released.


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## Paquebot (May 10, 2002)

Cabin Fever said:


> I had no idea there were more than one specie of Canada geese. I learn something everyday on this forum. Thanks for the info.
> 
> You would happen to have a link that describes the 11 Canada geese species?


There are actually 7 true Canadian and 4 cackling. One place I found with links to describing some of the various sub-species is Oregon's Fish & Wildlife. Scroll down to the bottom for info.
www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/waterfowl/goose-permits/index.asp

You can also Google _canada goose varieties_ and find that I'm 2 pounds off on the big locals. They can get to 22 pounds! They come across here at just above treetop level as they have no fear of civilization.

Martin


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## Bonnie (Aug 4, 2009)

I live in Ontario, Canada and we have had the whackiest weather so far in years. Usually by the end of October we start to get snow, but we are now almost a week into December and not even a drop of snow yet. Yesterday the weather was at 10 degrees!


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

Paquebot said:


> There are actually 7 true Canadian and 4 cackling. One place I found with links to describing some of the various sub-species is Oregon's Fish & Wildlife. Scroll down to the bottom for info.
> www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/hunting/waterfowl/goose-permits/index.asp
> 
> You can also Google _canada goose varieties_ and find that I'm 2 pounds off on the big locals. They can get to 22 pounds! They come across here at just above treetop level as they have no fear of civilization.
> ...



OR/WA, iIs a pretty interesting place to hunt geese, when I was stationed there you had to take a written test in goose ID before you could hunt them. They have the "Dusky" (sub-species on endangered list) goose that winters in WA/OR. Once the quota of âaccidentallyâ shot duskys is reached, they shut down goose hunting in that area, you literally woke up and called the goose hotline before heading out. They also had listed days for hunting geese and ran check stations where you had to bring your birds to for ID. 

Shoot the wrong bird, and they punched your card and you were done for the year. I used to carry calipers to measure the bills to make sure. One time I spent 15 minutes at a check station blow drying a goose to get the breast color to lighten up as the bill measurement was close to being a Dusky. It was a water retrieve and the feathers had darkened up due to being wet.

Generally, if it flew over tree lines/hedge rows and decoyed with reckless abandon , it was a Dusky and you held your fire. Iâve hunted geese for years all over the US and Canada and have never experienced anything like it since. I often wondered how many people gave up on goose hunting there due to the requirements. 

It was easier to hunt elk than geese. 

Chuck


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## foxfiredidit (Apr 15, 2003)

Things are a bit wacky this year. About a week or so ago, when the moon was up and bright, I was sitting out by the firepit enjoying a nice evening. All of a sudden there were two flocks of geese, one behind the other with about 10-15 birds in each. I was sitting there enjoying the listen to their calls in the night like that. We don't get that many geese through here. Then I realized something;

As the crow/goose flies, they were about 60 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.......and they were headed due north. I immediately thought of the two airline pilots that overshot their destination and had to turn around after a hundred miles or so and go back.


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## fordson major (Jul 12, 2003)

Bonnie said:


> I live in Ontario, Canada and we have had the whackiest weather so far in years. Usually by the end of October we start to get snow, but we are now almost a week into December and not even a drop of snow yet. Yesterday the weather was at 10 degrees!


we have had green Christmases before bonnie! friends went moose hunting in october and there was plenty of snow where they were! my DD lives up the valley and they have had snow! can recall going trick or treating in a snow suit more than once though! right about now we would welcome freeze up, mud is getting deep!


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