Friday 6 June 2008

Gosling Update - and Herbert

The goslings are now two and a half weeks old, and are growing rapidly. They spend most of the day outside the shed with Buffy and Angel , eating the lush early summer grass, snoozing cuddled up to Mum, swimming in the pond and learning goose behaviour and etiquette from their parents!

I find it most amusing that they both copy Buffy and Angel's 'get away from our precious goslings!' stance when they see either of us coming. This entails extending their necks and, in the case of Buffy and Angel, hissing in a threatening manner. In the case of the goslings, it's more of a cute squeak.

This brings me nicely to how their little bodies are changing shape. When they first hatched they were ovoid little balls of fluff with a head and feet. Now they're developing longer necks and their bodies are elongating into a goose shape. They've still got quite a bit of growing to do though.

Thanks for all the suggestions of possible names. I'm actually thinking of calling them Snowy and Sunny, as one is distinctly paler with a white bum, and one is darker with lots of yellowy bits. I'm not sure if this may be sex-linked, as I have no clue as yet to their gender - another good reason for choosing non gender specific names.

Anyway, here's a couple of photos so you can see how they're growing, including one of them doing the 'big scary gosling' pose.







Finally, for Herbert fans, I have at last managed to get a photo of our handsome hero, in typically laid back style:




5 comments:

Reya Mellicker said...

OMG they are so cute! Love the fierce goose pose - it's like goose tai chi or goose yoga. Sweet!!

Did you read about the woman who bought an emu egg on the Isle of Whyte (sp?), brought it home and put it in her incubator? (She raises chickens in south England, can't remember exact location). Ten days later, voila! The egg hatched and now she's raising an emu. It will grow to 6 feet tall!!

Much love to you, T. and all the animals, esp. Snowy and Sunny. Bravo!

hele said...

Ooh, they are as fluffy as my new puppy. He also likes to copy the threatening gestures of his parents, growling and pulling his teeth back. But somehow his fluff ruins his fierceness somewhat.

kathyann said...

They are growing so fast its so nice to have photo's to look back on,they really are so cute and Herbert looks like he 's keeping a watchful eye on them!!!
Love from Kathy and the girls

laoi gaul~williams said...

how fantastic! although bigger they are still so cute~and i love the names too

Leanne said...

i love the tough guy poses, so very cute!

Leanne x