Canada Goose Fight - a Story Pictorial

[casil403]

Mating season has started of birds in Calgary. Today i was fortunate enough to witness a serious goose fight for a female. The one dominant male had had enough of a single male hanging around his female...he tried to chase him away several times but the message wasn't received..this time he means business!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2755/4400135190_28f99c6e8b.jpg

He chases the challenger relentlessly around the river trying to protect his female and he's not backing down...
:http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4400135316_9230b5d772.jpg

Here's a shot of his mate (in the middle) while they continue...
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4400135476_ef359c8c72.jpg

The mid air chase around the river...the dominant male is overtaking the visitor.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2757/4400135578_620a9a3d8e.jpg

And the fight begins this way with them tumbling into the river:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4400135652_fd5c2dafe9.jpg

[casil403]

They Fight for about 5 minutes holding on to each other by the beak on the shoulder...you can see they are biting really hard and not letting go!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4400135796_0d252401d7.jpg

And they hit each other with their wings while holding on with the beaks..the noise the make from hitting each other is unbelievable!
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4052/4400135908_e8ea805287.jpg

Then one pins the other down (I think it's the dominant mated male) and holds him to the ground trying to suffocate and kill him I'm certain. He had him down like this for a good few minutes holding on to his neck while the female watched..at one point I was certain he killed him because he didn't move for the longest time:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4064/4399368257_9729884fa6.jpg

And then all of a sudden the one on the ground breaks free and gets away...they chased each other and one of th females eventually came back to the female...I'm certain it was his mate..the other was nowhere to be seen!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2800/4400136112_5e0f6c88f9.jpg


Quite the drama over about 10 minutes and I was lucky enough to capture it. I hope you enjoyed it. :)

[Michaelaw]

Good job Casil...They can get pretty nasty for sure :thumbup:

[edG]

very cool, nice shooting

[Bambi]

oy! the dangers of mating!

nice catch casil

[Hillbillygirl]

Awesome series Casil. Yes, even the most beautiful creatures can turn into ruthless killers when it comes to mating.