The guests that never leave

The Canada goose calls its familiar sound overhead in the sky flying in their v-shaped formation that signals its spring. Some of the population has become non-migratory due to having enough winter food and a lack of former predators. So for a large number of the population, they came and never left.
Today I caught a couple of them swimming in the lake nearby. The looked rather well rested so I'm not sure if they just flew in or have been here all along. Apparently these geese mate for life! They find a mate the second year of their lives and that is that unless one of them dies. In that case all bets are off they can find someone new.
Geese can attack humans when they feel threatened. I noticed as I walked closer to the water's edge they swam away in unison. When I was a little girl we would come to the park and feed the ducks and geese. When my children were young I brought them to do the same but there were much more geese by then and I do remember them charging over to us when they saw the bread we had. Now there are signs up all over not to feed them. If you think I'm kidding about how aggressive they are check this out. It's hysterical and nobody gets hurt. Still, I don't think I'll be bringing my grandchildren too close to a goose!