The Geese of Beaver Bog

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A pattern language for effective group work. Dave Pollard's chronicle of civilization's collapse, creative works and essays on our culture. A trail of crumbs, runes and exclamations along my path in search of a better way to live and make a living, and a better understanding of how the world really works.

gilles poutoux the geese in the bog jig leondumoulin.nl

Geese do not, contrary to myth, mate for life. They are wedded to place, not to individual partners. Each year they return to the breeding area they know best, and a battle ensues for the right of parentage. Each large area that provides appropriate safety and food for the vulnerable three-week nesting period is permitted only one, or occasionally two, breeding pairs.

These pairs are selected partly on a first-come basis, but sometimes altered by strength battles. The area they fiercely protect against other pairs and individuals from early Spring until the newborns are hatched is large enough to accommodate and feed many breeding pairs, but geese somehow know not to overbreed, and the areas are large enough to keep the overall abundance and the ecosystem balance intact.

If they lose the right to be breeding pair, they continue their migration, looking for unused or challengeable sites further North, and failing that the non-breeding couples simply party all summer long, childless, in the sub-arctic areas where predators are few and far between. It is not inconceivable, therefore, that some of the breeding pairs could be incestuous.

As soon as the goslings are able to swim and walk days after birth , Heinrich discovered to his astonishment, the huge nesting area is abandoned, and the breeding pair and the goslings make the arduous and dangerous overland trek to the Summer feeding area, often miles away. This area is selected for its openness, the ability to see predators coming from far away, and is much different from the well-hidden and enclosed nesting area.

The Behavior of t I've always liked books on animal behaviour, especially if they lean towards the scientific as much as the anecdotal and exclude all pc chat about environmentalism which might be important but makes boring reading. The Behavior of the Greylag Goose both wonderful books I read years ago. But it did explain why Konrad Lorenz was a Nazi who was fully behind - indeed helped develop - the appalling racial policies that led to the murder of millions of Jews, half a million Serbs and up to two million Gypsies - all of whom were considered untermensch , subhuman polluters of the white Aryan nation of Germany and its allies.

It all came about because many geese can interbreed with others - Canada geese can certainly interbreed with snow geese and greylag geese. Lorenz felt that an animal's behaviour was not only a function of learning but also of its evolutionary descent and adaption to environment. He felt that man's changing of the environment and domestication of animals mean that these hybrids that would otherwise be pruned out in the wild would thrive and might gain a reproductive advantage over the wild species and would exhibit non-species specific behaviour that would degrade the wild species to an inferior, 'mongrelised' one.

Therefore, adhering to Nazi principles, placing the species above the individual, he felt that purity of race would only be preserved by rigorously exterminating the 'hybrids'. He rejected empirical evidence that his theory simply wasn't true and extrapolated it to humans: Jews, Gypsies, Serbs, homosexuals etc would degrade and make inferior the wonderful 'pure, white, Christian' Aryan nation and should therefore unsentimentally be exterminated. At one stage he was himself administering tests of 'worthiness' on people and those who failed went to concentration camps where they were subsequently murdered.

Although Lorenz later tried to worm out of much of his collaboration with the Nazis, a direct quote from him shows his culpability and despicability: Its a very readable, well-written book, very gentle, nicely illustrated and apart from a page or two, totally non-political. It was not this book in particular, this book I found for myself being long fascinated by the many geese that fly over my house in the Fall.

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Whoever, thought I would find geese so fascinating? There is suspense, love, fighting, cheating on spouses or maybe better put, the replacement of spouses, heartbreak and the raising of families.. There is so much going on at t 3. There is so much going on at this bog, with the geese but other birds and animals as well. The author and his son raised a young goose called Pip. This author made me feel like I was with him, watching at the Bog, tracking a noting every little thing that went on. I found it admirable the amount of time he spent there but then again he is a naturalist and this is what he finds intriguing.

While I loved reading about all these things, this is not something I could do. I am glad, however, that there are people who can and then also have the ability to write about their experiences. Jun 11, Terence rated it it was amazing Recommended to Terence by: The Geese of Beaver Bog is a wonderful book. It's a several-years-in-the-lives account of the title's geese as well as the bog's other inhabitants.

The author, Bernd Heinrich, is a professor of biology but this isn't a formal study of goose social lives. It's just a chronicle of the observations he made of the animals living in the ponds around his Vermont home. The main part is science light, though Heinrich appends a few, brief essays and a bibliography that discuss theory and direct readers t The Geese of Beaver Bog is a wonderful book. The main part is science light, though Heinrich appends a few, brief essays and a bibliography that discuss theory and direct readers to more "scientific" literature.

And the bog contains quite a collection of individuals. The "Summer of Love" never ended here as Heinrich witnesses mate-swapping and sybaritic promiscuity that would have Focus on the Family howling with dismay. But he also witnesses the adoption of stray goslings and the care parents take to make sure their children survive. Heinrich establishes quite close friendships with four geese in particular: Peep, Pop, Jane and Harry the wife-swapping pairs mentioned above , and he observes behaviors that aren't in the "geese textbooks" but reveal these birds as intelligent, feeling creatures who are not wholly governed by genetic programming but are independent actors.

One of the more interesting behaviors was a migration of parents and young from Heinrich's bog to a smaller pond a couple of miles away which occurred every year that the author observed the geese. At first glance, it would appear insane to cross two miles of predator-infested woodland including a manmade road trailing days-old goslings.

Heinrich reasons that, in part, the more open landscape of the second pond afforded a more comfortable environment for the geese, who evolved in tundra-like conditions. The manifest dangers were less of a cost than the benefit of the psychological comfort afforded by a wide open, defensible pond a good bet on the geese's part since in both migrations observed, the entire families made it intact.

It's a human tendency to overgeneralize so that we speak of "the black community" or "evangelicals" or "the American people" as if these were real groups, all of one mind and body. Yet, when one flies closer to the ground, all the peaks and valleys, forests, and rivers come into sharp focus. That's one of the most attractive features of this book. By flying so close to the ground, Heinrich and his readers come to see the geese for the individuals they are.

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I was planning on giving this book three stars - I "liked it" - but the last few pages actually made me sit up literally, since I began looking for a piece of paper and a pencil to write down my epiphany. A light went off in my head as Heinrich inadvertently managed to articulate a philosophy of moral ecology that I had been seeking for years in order to justify how I felt about the world around me and how we should treat it. Essentially it comes down to two principles: Every creature has the right to life but that right is circumscribed by the ecosystem's right to survive.

No species has the right to so overwhelm its ecosystem as to cause the extinction of another, and that includes humans and their, so far, unchecked intrusions into every biota on the planet. Now, it would be morally unjustifiable and repugnant to implement any form of coerced population control viz. I've read somewhere that the "optimum carrying capacity" of the U. Even if you don't agree with Heinrich's philosophy, it's undeniable that animals are highly complex creatures with lives nearly as involved as humans' certainly among the mammals, fish and reptiles , and have roles in a healthy environment crucial to everyone's survival.

It would behoove the reader to keep that in mind when considering the quality of our future here on Earth. Oct 05, Ladiibbug rated it it was amazing Shelves: His soul-deep enthusiasm for the minutia of details about birds, the forest, whatever he writes about, is deeply satisfying to readers who are also fascinated by the animals and flora of the natural world. This book chronicles the author's relationship with a gosling named Peep, and follows her as she finds a mate, migrates, returns to her original nest in a pond.

There is an uneasy peace with other pairs of geese who nest in the various other locations in the pond. Like his excellent Mind of the Raven: Investigations and Adventures with Wolf-Birds , the author will climb trees to get a better observation point, build custom-made nests to test his theories, and rise in the pre-dawn hours to hurry down to the beaver bog pond to begin watching the geese as they awake. Being a bird lover myself, his introduction perfectly encapsulates my feelings about running outside at the geeses' honking sounds to watch the annual migration of Canadian geese: There is something in the ceaseless chatter of migrating geese that stirs me.

Perhaps it touches something wild, remote, and mysterious that I share with them, for it is almost with longing that I look up every fall and spring when the scraggly V formations wing their way overhead high in the sky. Perhaps it is the tenor of their haunting cries, their mastery of sky and distance, their commitment and single-mindedness in striving to reach far-off goals that enchant.

Jul 09, Mackenzie Brooks rated it really liked it Shelves: I really love geese. The author is my spirit animal. Sep 16, Kerri Anne rated it liked it Shelves: There's a fine line between observation and interference, between reverence and recklessness. Heinrich tries to walk that line through and around his "beaver bog" but he isn't always so successful. More than a few parts of his narrative made me cringe for the likely irrevocable damage he did to some of these geese, and to their nesting capabilities. There was far too much anthropomorphizing in this story for my liking, far too much feeding the geese, and far too much of Heinrich attempting to do There's a fine line between observation and interference, between reverence and recklessness.

There was far too much anthropomorphizing in this story for my liking, far too much feeding the geese, and far too much of Heinrich attempting to domesticate and tame what otherwise would and should have been wild Canada geese. Very enjoyable story of the comings and going of geese in the author's area over the course of several years. I loved Peep and how she was in and out of the narrative the whole time. It was also nice to learn more about Canada geese, their behaviors and other details.

The author also introduces other birds, mammals, etc. Aug 12, Jay Warner rated it really liked it. I enjoyed this book for its blend of story-telling and science. The author spent a lot of time documenting the birds and other wildlife in a beaver bog near his home. He is particularly drawn to the geese that nest there each year and even gives them names, but he keeps a keen observer's eye and does not anthropomorphize them to any great degree.

I was grateful that "nature red in tooth and claw" was kept to a bare minimum. I enjoy reading about the lives of animals but do not enjoy reading of t I enjoyed this book for its blend of story-telling and science. I enjoy reading about the lives of animals but do not enjoy reading of their deaths. Thankfully it was not an issue with this book. If you have an interest in Canada geese or in pond life in general, you will enjoy this easy-going book.

The author pulls you along on an adventure and a lesson you hardly know you are learning. The after-notes are also interesting and shed some insight the reader might appreciate. Mar 19, Nikki rated it it was ok Shelves: I was looking forward to The Geese of Beaver Bog as I have seen the book noted in other nonfiction numerous times. However, the book itself was dull, frustrating and read like an observation log for too much of its length.

Unfortunately I found Heinrich's writing weak, it is too often dry and feels as though it lacks emotion much of the time. This, of course, goes hand in hand with the observation log style I noted, but it does nothing to bring forth a reader's interest. It was not textbook level I was looking forward to The Geese of Beaver Bog as I have seen the book noted in other nonfiction numerous times.

The Geese of Beaver Bog by Bernd Heinrich

The only time Heinrich seemed to come alive at all were the times he leapt from bed I think I read that one too many times and when he spoke of Peep. He clearly enjoyed Peep and had he brought this attitude of enjoyment to his overall study it would have been better. I probably would have been able to tolerate the dry reading much more had Heinrich not annoyed me so much with his approach and had I learned much of anything about geese.

Unfortunately I went into this knowing nearly as much about geese as I finished, and that to me is a downfall for any nonfiction book to have.


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It did not help that Heinrich's methods involved him "taming" the geese to allow his presence and interference, which does not exactly allow for impartial, necessarily natural actions to be witnessed and recorded. Heinrich spends much too much time riding in a kayak and annoying at least one particular goose, handling eggs of a wild geese pair and constantly interfering in one way or another, even if it were feeding or calling the individual geese.


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Either befriend the geese and leave their eggs alone and don't harass them with a kayak, or be an observer that stays out of the situation. Overall I would say Heinrich's motivations are confused. Oct 19, Diane rated it really liked it Shelves: I credit Bernd Heinrick for making me a bird lover. Heinrich's The Mind of The Raven forever made me love ravens, and all corvids for that matter.

Now, this book has done the same for geese. Heinrich's loving but scientific descriptions of the geese on the beaver bog next to his home in Maine caused me to take a more detailed look at the geese as I walked along the Snake River in Idaho. I no longer saw just another flock of geese, but started to notice them as individuals. I've noticed their fac I credit Bernd Heinrick for making me a bird lover. I've noticed their facial markings, the bands around their necks, their long stretched out necks, and the way they eye me as I walk by.

In the spring, I'm anxious to see the behavior of the gooslings and their parents. I've seen this before, but after reading The Geese of Beaver Bog, I'll look for child rearing behaviors described in Heinrich's book.