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Goose doesn't like sweet natured doggy

Mark Frauenfelder at 10:20 am Thu, Feb 19, 2009

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Goose won't leave dog alone. Dog and owner flee on boat with goose in pursuit. (via TYWKIWDBI)

Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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  • arkizzle

    This guy was inteerviewed for UK tv when this video was originally getting mad youtube love.. He says he did nothing to provoke it, has no past history of hunting on the lake and even (if I remember correctly) knew this particular goose being placid from previous visits.

    I can’t remember what the show was, but I’ll try find the clip..

  • Jazzhigh

    If ever one questioned that birds evolved from dinosaurs, this video has the answer. There are definitely a few frames there where the fellow has the goose by the neck, and the goose has a beak full of dog fur. I’m a little bit skeptical of the “man killed by geese” story though. Was it a heart attack?

  • Ghede

    Any major predators that prey on geese have stopped, due to the fact that geese are brimming with various pesticides. The only one that seemed to have any adverse effect on their health was DDT, and that is because it weakened their eggshells. When they sat down, they would crush their own eggs.

    We now have a species with no predators, and whose main source of food is human territory. They contribute nothing to the cycle of life anymore. Anyone who eats goose meat without it being tested first is at risk, thanks to our pesticides.

    We have 2 options. Ban the use of pesticides on lawns, and start setting loose hunting dogs on public property after a few goose generations, or embark on a costly and wasteful extermination campaign.

  • i_prefer_yeti

    That fella sure is quick at grabbin’ the goose. Probably honed his skills with years of chicken choking.

  • mdh

    When I was very young my German shepherd puppy was attacked by about a dozen Canada geese. She lost, and did not was to go for a walk near that pond for the rest of her days, and I was nervous around geese into my 20′s.

  • nedbeauman

    I made a remix of this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsJjsXU2p1w

  • RedShirt77

    the owner shows as much patience as the dog. Once he had it by the neck I am surprise he wasn’t tempted the throw it in a sack or stuff it in a trashcan or something.

  • montauk

    @67 – “I’m a wildlife rehab volunteer for our local humane society as well as a long-time waterfowl hunter.”

    lol wtf?

  • Ambivalent

    @#42

    No way someone was killed by geese. Unless had knife-beaks…

  • gwyllion

    i agree with the first poster. The goose LOVES that dog. i have a duck who is IN LOVE with my corgi, the minute he catches sight of her it’s like watching an endless cartoon of Pepe L’Peau and that poor cat. i have to run interference with the ‘duck stick’, and have been reduced to helpless laughter on more than one occasion.

  • Xeno

    @REDSHIRT77

    You don’t just throw away a Goose that size. That’s cruel. They’re delicious and would easily feed a family of 4.

  • airshowfan

    Brazilian geese are no friendlier. When I did crew, we had a bunch of geese that lived around the building where we kept the boats. (I’m writing in the past tense because I haven’t been there in years, but for all I know they probably still have geese). Just as effective as guard dogs!

  • ErikO23

    my pet goose chased our electrician off our property when i was a kid. he also chased me all over the yard at times.

  • dculberson

    In the video if you look at the boat it seems to have droppings on it. I think the goose was using the boat as a home.

  • presto

    “Viva l’oie sauvage! Death to Ducks Unlimited!”

  • Felton

    Goose: “Well, he LOOKED like a Gaul!”

    Watch-geese indeed.

  • mdh

    Back in college I learned that the campus had a pair of swans to keep the geese away. You think a goose is nasty? Watch what a swan does when it sees a goose.

  • Wbb882

    Thank you, Robulus!

  • Mojave

    What do you want to bet we won’t be seeing this video on CuteOverload?

  • drivenbyboredom

    I feel like I saw that video over a year ago. Maybe 2.

  • howaboutthisdangit

    There were a nesting pair of geese where I used to work – they used to chase us and hiss and honk every time we got too close. A coworker made the mistake of provoking them, and the next thing we knew one goose had him backed up against a fence, while the other stood guard on top of his car.

  • jimh

    Any kid will tell you, when you play “duck, duck, goose” you run like hell.
    THE THRET IZ REALS

  • TK

    The only friendly goose is the one that turns into foie gras.

  • Gilbert Wham

    Have you ever considered putting down the TV camera, taking hold of the goose, and simply hitting it?

  • Joermungard

    It does make you wonder though – why was he filming the whole thing in the first place? Seems like quite a hassle to manhandle a goose and wield a camera at the same time… not to mention operating a motor boat.

  • jjasper

    Glibert, I was just going to commend his not putting the camera down and just trying to kill the goose.

  • thehoundoflove

    @#49 ErikO23

    The goose or the electrician?

  • ecekid

    This video explains why some people in undeveloped countries use geese as their home security system.

  • padster123

    It’s obviously a fake.

    Bad CGI – you can tell because the shadows look wrong and – er – there’s a mismatch of pixels or something.

  • Phikus

    Watching this I kept thinking: Why doesn’t this guy just grab an oar? Don’t they still keep those on board in case of an engine failure?

  • jmullan

    #44 “Grabbin’ the goose” is my new go-to phrase for… “handling the goose problem”… if you know what I’m sayin’

  • grimc

    To the contrary, I think the goose may like that sweet natured doggy a little too much, if you know what I mean…

  • lummy_al

    A meme watching to happen. I see dramatic music.

  • tomrigid

    Canadian goose…so typical.

  • snowraver1

    Geese are bastards.

    Last year, first golf game of the season. My buddy and I were golfing at a local golf course. This course (or pretty much any for that matter) is home to quite a few geese. After avioding conciderable of goose feces on the approach to the ball, my buddy hits his ball with his 3 wood right into a goose. The goose, needless to say, was a little pissed. I ended up chasing the goose with the golf cart so that my buddy could hit his next shot.

    P.S. I prolly would have hit the goose with something in the boat. Not really hard at first, then progressively harder until it stopped.

  • Anonymous

    Turf war! And the goose wins!

  • robulus

    Needed Benny Hillification, and needed it yesterday.

    http://james.nerdiphythesoul.com/bennyhillifier/?id=EsfKHwg3Zuk

  • Ghede

    I hate Canadian Geese. They shit where they eat, are ill-tempered, and too toxic from all the pesticides they eat to be eaten themselves.

  • slightly ridiculous

    Tough little sucker…

  • Trilby

    That guy is pretty nifty handling the goose.

  • Anumati

    Poultry is hateful.

    QFT

  • FoetusNail

    There’s some unspoken history there.

  • Anonymous

    This clip was on a show at least a year ago, iirc. The goose decided that the boat and dock were its home/nest and didn’t like anyone coming close to it. I would think it’d take awhile for this to happen, and the guy should have noticed this huge bird hanging out constantly there.

    Yeah, some geese can be mean, and it hurts to have them bite/peck at you.

    The guy KNEW that the goose would go after the smaller target, aka the passive dog. If he didn’t want to sensationalize it, he wouldn’t have brought a camera and the dog. He could have taken something like a broom and kept waving it at the goose til he gave up the spot, long before it came to this point.

    Hell, he probably could have called his state DNR and had them remove the goose, if he was thinking that rationally. My gut tells me that the guy probably thought the geese were cute, probably did nothing to make them nest elsewhere, and then got surprised when they lost any fear of humans and took over that dock and boat.

  • Anonymous

    When I lived in Koreatown in LA years ago, one of the big houses there had 2 guard geese. Every time I walked by, those geese were on the spot, wings spread and honking to beat the band. They were very efficient guards, as far as I could tell.

  • toxonix

    That dog is feeling the shame. Shame doggy.
    Shame.

  • robulus

    I appreciate the sentiment, WBB882, but please, don’t thank me, I just did what any other person would have done in the same situation. I saw an emergency and acted, instinct took over.

    You might call me a hero, but really, I’m just an average guy like you. The real heroes are the people who actually build bennyhillification equipment. Without their tireless contribution to mankind none of this would be possible.

    God bless them. God bless them all.

  • mgfarrelly

    Geese are very temperamental animals. I think the cultural perception of them as placid creatures (in endless nature paintings) has convinced people that they are something other than large, wild animals.

    My five-year old cousin was charged by one who landed in a Chicago park a few years back. My aunt had to beat it back with an umbrella as it kept trying to bite and swipe at children on the playground.

  • Chris Tucker

    Once you have the filthy little beast by the neck, you just hold it under the water until the bubbles stop.

    This has been another in the Stewie Griffin series of Simple Answers to Life’s Little Problems.

  • scarello

    Canadian geese are anything but friendly. I know many folks who have been attacked by the little buggers. Polite they are not.

  • tomrigid

    #4…

    Geese from America do all of those things too.

    One has to wonder, given the reticent nature of the dog, the fact that it’s a gun-dog breed, and the skill with which this guy handles the goose…

    Has this goose lost a relative to these two? Or a similar dog, at least? If I saw my mum being carted off by giant labrador I might have some issues, I’m just saying.

  • Arthur Buxton

    my grandparents used to have a flock of guard geese on their farm

  • jordy1971

    Poultry is hateful.

  • Anonymous

    Never realized you could sling a goose around by the neck without hurting it. Have to remember that when on comes at me again.

  • katsujinken

    That’s right, don’t fuck with Canada! People think we’re a peaceful bunch but just try to cross us and we’ll unleash our geese riding aback polar bears upon you.

  • Trilby

    @ Tomrigid #10

    That sounds a pretty plausible explanation to me, but are geese bright enough to make that kind of connection? Any goose experts out there?

  • air freshener

    the goose is just keeping it real son. GTFO of mai lake son! G-double-O-se! Geese up ducks down!

  • Kay the Complainer

    “Gawd almighty! Crazy-ass goose!”

    Comedy gold.

  • nigelstwin

    @#10 That’s an astute observation. I wonder if there’s any research to indicate that geese have memories intense enough to act upon in that way. I smell grant money.

  • Brewtown

    I’m a wildlife rehab volunteer for our local humane society as well as a long-time waterfowl hunter.

    IMO it is most likely the goose had a nest on shore and it was protecting eggs/goslings.

    As for the story of a goose killing someone, I find it somewhat unlikely unless the goose caused a heart-attack or a fall that indirectly caused the death. Getting bitten by a Canada Goose tickles more than it hurts. Thier wings (which they will beat you with) are relatively strong, but certainly not enough to kill someone.

  • Rictor

    Geese used to chase my dog in the back yard but most of them were afraid of him (and he was a tiny 8 pound dog). They would come after him if his back was turned and he was too close to them, their babies or their food. They’re very territorial and protective. However, when they have eggs, they become much more aggressive. A local man was killed by geese last summer after coming too close to their nest. They kill dogs all the time. You don’t want to mess with them.

  • Chris Spurgeon

    Number 13 got it right… Goose nation represent!

  • key

    @36 GregLondon — I’m thinking that’s why he was videotaping the whole thing. To show that he wasn’t just being violent, he was protecting his dog.

  • bbonyx

    Hahaha. You have DuckAIDS.

    One of the funniest threads ever. The 5th comment won.

  • Karen M

    Ah, the majestic Canadian goose. It’s the only bird that scares the hell out of me.

    True story: I was giving piano lessons when we lived outside Chicago. One day I was waiting for a student to arrive, and I got a phone call right before her scheduled lesson. It was from her mother…she needed an escort from her car to the apartment building. You guessed it – there were geese surrounding her car when I came downstairs, and she was too scared to get out of the car with her kids. Like Cujo, but with geese.

    I’d say they’re just mean.

  • steelball

    All I can think of is the paperboy from Better off Dead yelling, “Two dollars.” LOL

  • akbar56

    “Getting bitten by a Canada Goose tickles more than it hurts. ”

    Tell that to my 7 year old self who got bitten in the nads by a goose. Tickles my ass.

  • bolivar13

    A nitpicky correction: it’s called a canada goose, not a canadian goose. They haven’t yet managed to get citizenship…

  • farmfoodie

    Agree with #8. I wonder if a similar looking dog killed this goose’s mate. Nonetheless, had that been my dog, it would have been goose for tea after the first catch and release.

  • Anonymous

    wow, yea definitely thought that geese were more peaceful, placid creatures… keeping away

  • DaveLaFontaine

    When I was 6, I was chased all over my gran’s yard by her bloodthirsty geese. Damn things are like poultry Terminators – they don’t give up, even when you crawl into the rosebushes to try to escape. And yeah, I know several people who say that geese make great watchbeasts, although I would never trust them not to turn on you.

    Geese are evil.

  • Micah

    With all the pedants who frequent these parts, how is it possible that I’m only the second to point out (and the first to directly point out) that this was a Canada (not Canadian) Goose.

  • Xeno

    When I lived on a farm as a child, I was attacked like that by a flock of geese. They left bruises all over me and my sisters body.

    My father went out and grab the biggest meanest one and snapped its neck. We had goose for dinner.

    I’d have done the same to that goose after the third time of throwing it back. You gave it a chance to give up and leave you alone. He was chasing his doom.

  • Micah

    Thank you Bolivar13 for making me look like a petty pedant instead of a clever one.

  • Anonymous

    why not put the camera down and deal with the goose .

  • stuhfoo

    hahah xeno

    duck is delicious, especially one that wants to be eaten :)

  • yajab

    At the Henley Regetta there is a full time job called the goose boy — which is kind of sexist as it’s recently been done by a girl. Anyway, the goose boy sits in fast little motor boat. Whenever the course manager spots a goose on the course, he radios the goose boy who rushes to try to herd the goose away from the racing boats. Unlike ducks, who will get out of the way of the oars of an eight at full tilt, geese attack. It usually ends badly for the goose, but it’s not considered a fair race when one boat has to dispatch an attacking goose on its way to the finish line — or really great for the goose either.

  • stosh machek

    in some parts of the world are used as watch dogs …theyre cranky, loud, & got a territorial imparitive a mile wide …they dont need much smarts or memory for that

  • Phikus

    Yeah, they can really get your goose!

  • ArghMonkey

    Ive raised about a dozen Canadian geese, they were great animals actually, they never attacked anyone and they particularly liked getting scratched around their head (an area hard for them to scratch themselves).

    If the goose didnt trust you and you were in his/her space I can imagine they would kick ass, they actually seemed to be pretty smart from what I remember and the domesticated geese were dumb as a sack of hammers.

    Great video, between the accent of the guy and the fact that the goose wouldnt give up, made me laugh pretty hard :)

  • semiotix

    The angle that the hand came into the frame to swat the goose away was exactly the angle that your knife-wielding hand comes into the frame in Doom and other early first-person shooters.

    Since you only switch to the knife when you’re out of ammo and about to die in those games, I found that video terrifying on several levels!

  • Anonymous

    It could be that the goose only sees the dog as a threat. Eggs nearby? That would be my guess.
    In the wild, dogs(wolves/fox/coyotes) are predators and the goose likely sees the dog that way.
    People who have been attacked by them in the past should also realize that the geese aren’t too bright and are notoriously territorial. It’s a defense mechanism.
    Too suggest that they are mean or evil is ridiculous. They are wild animals who are trying to protect themselves.
    There is no logic, reason or emotion behind their actions. It pure instinct, like a reflex.
    Having said all that, it is a funny video. The guy should have left the area though.

  • JayeRandom

    With soundtrack:
    http://www.youtubedoubler.com/?video1=http://www.youtube.com/v/e7zh1O5WkfI&video2=http://www.youtube.com/v/6OStX_wrWGg

  • star35

    Guard Geese make a lot of noise, that’s why they are effective. Whilst they can “bite” you pretty hard if you let them, one of the reasons that Geese terrorise people is our hesitancy to hurt them back – they are cute/natural etc. There come a time when you just need to kick the fck out of them. Seriously, why let Donald Duck’s older cousin push you around?

  • GregLondon

    Weird. I wonder if there was a nest somewhere nearby. I also wonder if someone wouldn’t try to bring the guy up on charges of animal abuse or something. Some states are a little weird that way.

  • Anonymous

    I can guess what the dog was thinking :
    “dude ! dude ! Put down the camera and come help me !”

  • pAULbOWEN

    Buy a Staffie mate – they take a robust line with impudent poultry.

  • Kenneth Extension

    This reminds of the T-Rex mother/baby bits of Jurassic Park 2. I bet he has goslings stashed somewhere…

  • ill lich

    I like the Hitchcock version of this film better.

  • zio_donnie

    According to legend the romans were alerted to a gallic attack by the sacred geese of Juno.

  • rosencrantz

    Poor dog.

    I give geese a wide berth and Canada geese, in particular, a very wide berth, they are massive and aggressive around their nests. My dog killed two of them last year while we were out walking on two separate occasions, and I felt awful, but that is what she does. The coyotes do the same, so I can only imagine the years of instinct propelling this attack.

  • OLAF9000

    #31 I wouldnt be surprised if peta raised a stink over this they usually do… however i do think the way the guy manhandled the goose by the neck and tossing it back into the water was funny! XD

  • Anonymous

    While duck is quite delicious, the only goose meat I’ve ever had tasted like shit.

    And yes, geese are quite dirty and temperamental animals.

  • arkizzle

    Dculberson@76, If I remember correctly (re:me@48), this video starts after the goose had been attacking the guy for about 10 minutes.

    I can’t remember if it was his boat or not, though.

  • Brewtown

    Akbar 56,
    I guess I should have qualified, getting bitten in the hands/arms tickles more than it hurts. I can’t vouch for the nads but will take your word for it… Lol!

  • Xeno

    @STUHFOO

    Mmmm… duck confit! *drool*

  • Boba Fett Diop

    Damn Honkies!

  • Frau Blucher

    @30 jayerandom you are my hero

    curb your mashup

  • Daemon

    Not that odd. Geese used to be used more or less like guard dogs in some places.

    Also, as you can tell at the end, he was fairly close to shore. There might have been a nest nearby.

  • Takuan

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY-oQEy1KFU&feature=related

  • Anonymous

    Why was he taping the whole incident?

  • Blaine

    Wait… you can be killed by a goose? I find that odd. I mean, I’m sure getting bitten by a bill doesn’t tickle. How do you…

    I will fight the toughest goose on the planet. Any time any place.

  • Ambivalent

    Canadian geese can take down a jet. These guys got off easy IMHO.

  • Anonymous

    The species is called the Canada Goose (not “Canadian Goose”), and they live all over North America. Where I live, they’re a pest, like giant rats. They ruin parks and golf courses by crapping all over the place, they block traffic in the streets, they multiply like crazy, they chase people, oh and they cause planes to crash.

  • fennylaise

    maybe he can help:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uurn-Nrljbw

  • Anonymous

    As scary as these geese may be… they have nothing on the “Silent Duck”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search/Silent_Duck

  • Keeper of the Lantern

    No, you guys are reading this all wrong. The title of this video should be:

    “CANADIAN SNOW GOOSE CRAZY FOR INTER-SPECIES LOVIN’”

  • Brewtown

    “Any major predators that prey on geese have stopped, due to the fact that geese are brimming with various pesticides.”

    Geese have a number of natural predators that continue to reduce populations in wilderness areas, including coyotes, wolves, foxes, weasels and man. Unfortunately, geese are very also very adaptable to public parks, golf-courses, subdivisions, etc where hunting and predation is limited. Foxes are much more scared of man than geese are, and you generally can’t hunt in a public park. Geese have taken full advantage of this.