Animal of the Month

1. Geese are very loyal. They pair for life, fiercely guard their children against danger and look out for other members of their family.
2. A group of geese is known as a gaggle.
3. When Rome was attacked nearly 2,400 years ago, it was geese who saved the day. As the would-be invaders entered the city while its people slept, they disturbed a gaggle of geese who raised the alarm with loud cackling. The Romans woke up, and the city was saved.
4. You may have seen geese flying overhead in a V shape. Did you know that travelling in this formation helps take some of the effort out of flying? The bird in front does most of the work, so the geese take turns flying in this position.
5. Every year, many species of geese fly huge distances as they migrate to warmer areas during the cold winter months. Pink-footed geese leave Iceland in September, flying more than 800 miles in one day to reach Scotland, where they spend the winter before returning to Iceland in the spring. Amazingly, they remember the way every time.
6. Eiderdown is the feathers of ducks and geese. It’s used to fill pillows, duvets and coats. The feathers usually come from birds who have been killed for food. Because some people disagree with farming geese, they choose to buy feather-free alternatives instead.
7. The UK’s largest species of goose, the greylag, is the ancestor of most domestic geese.
8. One type of goose who visits the UK each year, the barnacle goose, can peck for food at the impressive rate of 200 pecks per minute. That’s what we call fast food!
9. Barnacle geese got their unusual name because people used to believe that they grew from tiny shellfish called barnacles!
10. To make a type of pâté known as foie gras, farmed geese are force-fed large amounts of food through tubes that are crammed down their throats. Overfeeding causes their livers to expand and become very fatty, and it is this from which foie gras is made. Animal welfare organisations around the world have campaigned against foie gras production, and it has now been banned in a number of countries.