Well, There’s Something You Don’t See Every Day! A Fine Gaggle of Geese

How could anyone drive through our beautiful and bountiful Heartland and think it was boring? There’s no telling what you might find around the next turn or over the rise coming up. If you’re lucky when driving west along the old National Road west of Indianapolis, and in the surrounding countryside, you just might come across a fine mixed gaggle of geese.

Time was when it was common for a farm to have a resident flock of geese and ducks. Both were highly valued for their beauty, their habits, and their products. Geese are grazers. They’ll move along a slow moving frontal boundary plucking blades of grass one at a time through gracefully curved necks, their deep orange beaks doing the snipping. Ever hear of a goose-necked hoe? They will keep a grassy area shorn to a good height, spreading nitrogen-rich deposits as they go. That keeps the grass nice and green. Call it recycling the lawn.