Quote Originally Posted by Mary View Post
Oh, this has gotten so funny. You are all living, breathing, walking, talking cartoon characters. I had a pair of Toulouse geese that I got after they were grown. They would run, honking with necks outstretched as if they were going to attack everyone but me. I would catch them when they behaved that way toward me and hold them while petting their necks and talking softly to them. After being caught a few times the decided not to bother me.

I got a pair of brown Chinese Snow Geese last spring as goslings. I kept them in a box in the pantry at night for about a month until I had my barn secure from predators. I would herd them in at night and out in the morning. I had to catch them to put in or take out of the box. I would pet them and talk to them. Then I went OOT for 3 weeks and had no one to care for them so I took them in a box in my pickup and kept them in my camper at night to keep them safe from coyotes and owls. With all this personal attention both of them became real pets. They follow me around the yard, come to me when I am sitting in a chair and allow me to pick them up. They get involved in what ever I am doing, talking to me like they were asking questions or giving advice, pecking and "helping." The goose likes the handling better than the gander does. She will follow me and honk at times until I pick her up, pet her neck and talk to her. My gander got stolen (upright walking predator) and my goose lost lots of weight and I was afraid she was going to die. I started spending lots of time with her several times during the day and would go to the door and talk to her every time I heard her honking. She started eating at night when I went to the barn to pen her up and then began to gain weight. She seams contented hanging out with the silky rooster and no longer stands on the high point of the yard calling and calling for the gander as she had been doing.

I was rarely bitten by the Toulouse and only when I was holding them. They did bite others who got to close. On the rare times I was bitten by the Chinese Snow geese was when they were nibbling my clothes and got me through them. Yelling "ouch" resulted in the Chinese giving me a "Oops" look.
I'm just dying to know. What exactly is a Chinese Snow goose? It's too bad that your goose was stolen. The demand for pet ganders is just incredible. I can't keep them on the place, and I have a waiting list a mile long. It's just like the early stages of the emu craze, and this time I'm in on the ground floor. Cha ching!