Oscar Meets a Goose
I met the goose way before I met Oscar. The goose lives a couple of blocks from me and spends all of his time in his fenced off yard. The first time I met the goose, he came running at me full speed, wings spread, head tilted forward, honking and hissing. I thought to myself, 'that is the Mue Mue of the goose world.' Mue Mue is my cat....my fearless, grumpy, wild cat!
I love animals. I try to befriend them wherever I go, especially if it is an animal I would not normally have the joy of meeting...like a goose! Every time I passed by the goose, I would coo to him. I would say to him in a sweet voice "Hi there little goose." I would tell him in hushed tones "Everything is going to be okay." None of this worked. The goose continued his bombardment of hissing and honking whenever I was near.
I worried the goose would always see me as foe rather than friend. But then I got Oscar.
Oscar and I walked past the goose early on in out time together. I expected the goose to hiss and honk at Oscar, just as he had done to me. I expected the goose to bend his neck in the strange way he does, open his toothy beak and jolt his head toward Oscar. I expected the goose to splay his mighty wings, with feathers sticking out like bristles. I expected the goose to unleash his mighty avian wrath with more force than ever before now that a carnivore accompanied me. And in turn, I expected Oscar to bark and pull on his leash as he jumped toward the goose. I expected Oscar's eyes to widen with excitement as he lunged toward the goose.
But instead of hissing, the goose rambled over to us and looked at us with curiosity. And instead of barking, Ozzie seemed to have absolute zero interest in the normally-angry-but-now-strangely-calm goose.
Ever since that initial meeting between Oscar and the goose, the goose has been a perfect gentlemen whenever Ozzie and I passed by his home. None of my normal animal befriending tactics worked on the goose. All he needed to trust me was the approval of another animal by my side.
I love animals. I try to befriend them wherever I go, especially if it is an animal I would not normally have the joy of meeting...like a goose! Every time I passed by the goose, I would coo to him. I would say to him in a sweet voice "Hi there little goose." I would tell him in hushed tones "Everything is going to be okay." None of this worked. The goose continued his bombardment of hissing and honking whenever I was near.
I worried the goose would always see me as foe rather than friend. But then I got Oscar.
Oscar and I walked past the goose early on in out time together. I expected the goose to hiss and honk at Oscar, just as he had done to me. I expected the goose to bend his neck in the strange way he does, open his toothy beak and jolt his head toward Oscar. I expected the goose to splay his mighty wings, with feathers sticking out like bristles. I expected the goose to unleash his mighty avian wrath with more force than ever before now that a carnivore accompanied me. And in turn, I expected Oscar to bark and pull on his leash as he jumped toward the goose. I expected Oscar's eyes to widen with excitement as he lunged toward the goose.
But instead of hissing, the goose rambled over to us and looked at us with curiosity. And instead of barking, Ozzie seemed to have absolute zero interest in the normally-angry-but-now-strangely-calm goose.
Ever since that initial meeting between Oscar and the goose, the goose has been a perfect gentlemen whenever Ozzie and I passed by his home. None of my normal animal befriending tactics worked on the goose. All he needed to trust me was the approval of another animal by my side.