Many people are used to the fact that a goose is such a poultry, and nothing more. But few people know that nature and evolutionary processes have given them incredible endurance and ability to survive in really harsh conditions. They live in many countries of the world, and vary greatly depending on the species.
Interesting facts about geese
- From the point of view of biology, these birds are relatives of ducks (interesting facts about ducks).
- Geese usually choose a mate for life. In the event of the death of one of the partners, the other may remain forever alone, or may find a new pair after a few years.
- When a goose leaves the nest with eggs or chicks out of necessity, the male always remains to guard it.
- Goose quills have been used for writing for many centuries.
- There are teeth on the edges of the goose’s beak.
- The penknife got its name from the small knives that were used to sharpen (sharpen) quills for writing.
- Geese live quite a long time – up to 25-30 years.
- To communicate with their own kind, they use a dozen different sounds.
- Wild geese always form a wedge when flying. This form of flock helps thin the air behind the first birds, and makes it easier for everyone else to fly.
- Domestic geese have long lost the ability to fly, partly due to more frequent molts and excess weight.
- To insulate the nest, the goose plucks out its own feathers and down, despite the pain of this operation.
- Wild geese that shed twice a year for about a quarter of their lives are not able to fly from -for the loss of feathers during this period.
- Little goslings can swim as early as the second day after hatching from the egg.
- These birds were first domesticated by the ancient Egyptians, about 4 thousand years ago.
- In the USA, on cotton plantations of geese used for weeding fields. They do not like cotton, but a flock of hungry birds eats all the weeds cleanly.
- In Tibet, followers of Hinduism revere the goose as the incarnation of the god Shiva.
- Goose feathers are covered with a layer of fat, and therefore they impossible to get wet. Actually, this is where the saying «like water off a duck» comes from.
- Wild geese are able to fly at an altitude of up to 7-8 kilometers, and the officially registered record is more than 10 kilometers. A person at such a height cannot breathe at all without an oxygen mask, not to mention extremely low temperatures and pressures.
- A goose protecting a nest, even a domestic one, never retreats and fights desperately to the last, attacking even knowingly a stronger opponent.
- Goose flocks in nature sometimes number up to a thousand individuals.