Super Chevy Show, oupps I forgot this

[stepinwolf]

The trip home went very smoothly with no problems what so ever with our Corvettes, but it's not to say it was uneventful.

Around the end of the afternoon, on a rather fast section of the Interstate, I was confronted with a complete gaggle of Canadian geese, crossing the road, and blocking the complete roadway. There was the mother, and about a dozen large chicks, that were doing their best to get across the roadway, but their speed was no match for our Corvettes.

I immediately leaned on the horn, and while making a panic stop I heard some loud squealing behind me. As I gazed in my mirror, all I could see was my go-for and a few more cars slipping and sliding all around, doing their best to try and not rear end me. During that instant there was more smoke on the roadway, that at a burn-out on the drag strip.

I immediately stomped on the go pedal, ( the green one Rich ) and was able to ( 1 ) get through the middle of the Geese crossing with out hitting any of them, and ( 2 ) clearing the roadway so as not to be rear ended.

Those of you who know of my stopping power, will understand why in the future, all trips will be made with my car bringing up the rear. No one can stop shorter then me, ( the red pedal ) so I figure the safest place for me is at the tail end of any cruise.

Stepinwolf

 

[BarryK]

the wife and I got stopped by a gaggle of geese also on our way to a show last year.

http://69.240.140.212/page1/page41/page43/files/page43-1009-full.html

 

[youwish2bme]

I would have to guess there were some brown marks left from some of the occupants of the cars behind you :L Always good to hear the stories from on the road and I'm sure you guys will be talking about those geese for sometime to come... Dave

 

[stepinwolf]

the wife and I got stopped by a gaggle of geese also on our way to a show last year.

http://69.240.140.212/page1/page41/page43/files/page43-1009-full.html

BarryK , nice to see a picture of the event, sadly at about 85 mph, I didn't have much time to get the camera out.

What I found most troubling was that the chicks were almost as large as the mother. Had I not been able to stop in time, I would have taken out at least three or four, including the front end of my car.

Youwish, I am told the brown marks were not as offensive as the odor.

Stepinwolf

 

[BarryK]

Step
as you can see from the picture (a couple more on my site also under the "Kimberton, PA" car show) we were only 2nd in the line of traffic and this was right after a red light so no one was going very fast on the road yet. Luckily the car ahead of us saw the geese in plenty of time as soon as they stepped out on the road and stopped. We were sitting there a good solid 5 minutes waiting for two complete families of geese to cross the road (to a pond on the other side) amd no geese were injured in the making of this picture
Since we were sitting so long waiting for the crossing my wife had plenty of time to grab the camera.
Now...........if things were diffent and we were going 85mph, the story most likely would have been very different. I'm glad everything worked out for your incident and neither you, your beautiful car, and of course no geese were hurt.

congrats again on your show winning

 

[stepinwolf]

Thank's Barry,


From the picture however, I can't quite make out if the geese were using one of the regular pedestrian cross-walks. :L

Stepinwolf

 

[BarryK]

nope, they made their own crosswalk..........


there was brand new road construction going on and the road was diverted. I believe this caused a disruption in their normal homeplace and the new road now cut inbetween their "home" and their normal waterhole/pond making them have to cross the new road to get to their water supply.

 

[ctjackster]

death . . . to . . . . all . . . . Canadian . . . . . . Geese . . . . .

those of you who live near water know how I feel; those of you who don't likely think I am some sort of nut. Problem is they are so large that (1) hitting one at speed, even with my truck with push bar, will do damge (2) shooting then dead creates it's own disposal problem (no need to litter my lawn with huge rotting geese caracases) but I shoot them anyway, put a 5 mm (.22 cal) air rifle slug in them and they swim off to die elsewhere . . .

 

[67HEAVEN]

death . . . to . . . . all . . . . Canadian . . . . . . Geese . . . . .

those of you who live near water know how I feel; those of you who don't likely think I am some sort of nut. Problem is they are so large that (1) hitting one at speed, even with my truck with push bar, will do damge (2) shooting then dead creates it's own disposal problem (no need to litter my lawn with huge rotting geese caracases) but I shoot them anyway, put a 5 mm (.22 cal) air rifle slug in them and they swim off to die elsewhere . . .

I understand the problems they are creating. Taking a barefoot walk in a waterside park is an unpleasant experience these days. YUCK!

However, be aware that they are a protected species in the U.S. and Canada.

Canada geese are protected by the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and
the Migratory Bird Conservation Act of 1929.

http://www.american.edu/TED/geese.htm

http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/living_wildlife/17592

http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwgoose.htm


Just remember, folks............there's always a Canadian Connection.

 

[ctjackster]

yeah, protected, am aware, and should a game warden or Police Officer be in my backyard, I'll hold my fire

and when they leave, it'll be back to target practice

though I sense it's akin to killing misquitos - kill one, five more come flying in to take its place. Actually, I only break out the Sheridan pellet rifle on rare occasions; I tend to use a wrist rocket (that's a high powered sling shot) most of the time - it is fairer (even though the shots I am making require some good skill given the distance) and it tends to send a more medieval message to the geese that they seem to understand better. But they are incredibly stupid, and seem to lack a conditonable memory.

no offense to Canada, of course. Please feel free to shoot any pests with the word "American" in their name, on me.

 

[firstgear]

I have chased the darn things with my tractor while mowing the yard....all of the vettes have been drawn into chasing them out of the yard.....the truck has gone after them.....and I even bought a remote controlled monster truck to chase them.....best to chase them.....minnie, the golden retreiver....she is the most effective at it......

 

[IH2LOSE]

I have chased the darn things with my tractor while mowing the yard....all of the vettes have been drawn into chasing them out of the yard.....the truck has gone after them.....and I even bought a remote controlled monster truck to chase them.....best to chase them.....minnie, the golden retreiver....she is the most effective at it......

We live in a lake comunity and we used to have a major problem with the geese. What we have done is purchase several manacins of dead geese that we lay about the area and it seems from the air it looks like a problem area for geese and they stay away.

We also have this diving board dock in the middle of the lake and they used to have a giant black snake painted on it also to keep the geese away. Both worked well

 

[BarryK]

a guy I know pretty well had a large problem with geese on his pond so he went out and bought two large swans to keep in his pond - they love living there. They keep the geese away perfectly.
I didn't know swans were natural predators of geese but they must be as the geese have not returned at all since he brought the swans to live there

 

[67HEAVEN]

Research and creative solutions. Don't you love it?


Sort of what we do with these old cars.

 

[BarryK]

gee Bob, can you even call 67Heaven an old car anymore? Is there a single piece of her that isn't brand new or reworked during your rebuild? Yours is now a brand new car!

 

[67HEAVEN]

Is there a single piece of her that isn't brand new or reworked during your rebuild?

The nut behind the wheel.

 

[JohnZ]

Thousands of Canadian Geese "adopted" the huge reflecting pool (lake) on the grounds of the GM Tech Center about 40 years ago, and many generations of them have defied all efforts to make them leave ever since; they've also taken over the road network all over the site as their sidewalks, and they regularly block traffic as they waddle along. Picturesque, but aggravating.

 

[ctjackster]

a guy I know pretty well had a large problem with geese on his pond so he went out and bought two large swans to keep in his pond - they love living there. They keep the geese away perfectly.
I didn't know swans were natural predators of geese but they must be as the geese have not returned at all since he brought the swans to live there

ahh, but with the swans you get other issues. We have two (one mated pair) swans in the lake too, and yes they chase the geese up and down the lake (their signature move is to come swooping in towards the geese while whacking / slapping their wings against the water - quite impressive actually.) That I don't mind. But when I go out in the canoe, usually with my two little kids and a Siberian Husky on board, the male swan takes notice (their nest is traditonally located near our frontage). And then he starts aggresively swimming towards us. And then my kids start getting nervous (although they are confident their dad will protect them). Swans are big, mind you. Think Lama with wings. So then I start getting nervous. Because swans DO NOT get spooked off by human contact, or a paddle waving in their direction, in fact that seems to incite them. Even having a Siberian Husky (and a well-known killer of any wildlife foolish to enter her domain, woodchucks, racs and geese included) on board does not make the swan think twice.

At best, I can negotiate a stalemate with the swan IF I am firm but not initiaitng aggression towards it - I have tried that too, and ended up having a full on "swan attack" on my hands, keeping a crazed flapping swan at bay with a paddle. While the dog is jockeying for a take down bite, and the kids are ducking for cover. In a canoe.

But the swans do not routinely come up on my lawn and crap like the [north of the border name goes here] geese do, so I don't really hate them, just fear them.

 

[67HEAVEN]

....and ended up having a full on "swan attack" on my hands, keeping a crazed flapping swan at bay with a paddle. While the dog is jockeying for a take down bite, and the kids are ducking for cover. In a canoe.

Can you get the next attack on video for us? I'll host it.

 

[BarryK]

Jack, this guy doesn't swim in his pond, he has a very nice pool like that. and the swans don't come up to the rest of the yard because the pond is fenced off.

Sounds like our dogs are alike. our border collier sees ANYTHING on our(HIS) property and he is off after it like a flash. birds, squerrels, deer, neighborhood cats and dogs, etc have all learned to stewer clear of our yard and our dog. He doesn't kill anything but sure love chasing them. Border collies don't kill, they just love to run and herd other animals but the other animals don't usually know this.......

I have to keep him inside when i'm on the tractor mowing the lawn otherwise he tries to herd me on the tractor! :crazy