Grinwelda Goose.

Geese live to be 75 years old. A great pet, they have several roles to play. They guard your house (neither my brother nor father would go in the yard while they were there) and keep weeds'n'snails down in the garden. They will take food ever so gently from your hands and let you softly pat them. And there are eggs to eat or use for handicraft stuff.

On the down side, never stand directly behind a goose, their excrement comes out jet propelled.

The guy who sold them to me specified 'pets only', and I know why. He had tears in his eyes as he left them, geese are such lovely animals, and easy to get attached to.

My yard was just a tad small for the geese when they were grown, and Mum had brought a huge 100 acre property, so they were going to go and live there, when disaster struck.

I had put in a bathtub for them to swim in, in the yard. However, Grinwelda must have had a problem keeping herself properly greased, because every now and then she would get waterlogged. I would hear her honking and go out to the yard, then lift her out of the tub.

Only this time, it was about 1am, I had worked late, thought to myself, /can't be bothered, get her out in the morning./

Next morning she didn't turn up for the soaked wheat I made up for them, but sometimes they didn't, especially if they were sitting on eggs. I totally forgot about the calls that night. When I got home and looked for her, she was drowned.

One of her favorite nesting sites was in the big doghouse that I had brought for them, both Grinwelda and Grizelda shared the cozy spot.

Moggley the cat would defy death sometimes by doing a kamikaze run threw the yard, closely followed by outspread wings and outraged honks all the way.