There was no way to have a blog without including how wildlife is a huge part of a healing mountain, afterall, we share the mountain for sure. 
Months ago I was finally ready for my first photo shoot, and what better place than the air bnb that started it all – it’s quite a view. Being close with the owner I am blessed to have use of the property when there are no guests, so off I went for what I thought would be a quiet afternoon. I even brought a muffin to snack on, more on that later.
When I got to the dock I noticed mama’s head above the log and quickly remembered the nesting goose. Thankfully, it is a large dock, so I didn’t think much of it really. She had been out there the last few cleans when I walk the property, I respect her space and never had any problem.
So I simply started talking to her in a soothing tone as I had done before. I stayed on my side, was focused on the opposite direction, and just kept reassuring her that ‘I would never hurt those babies’ etc.
It was a seemingly beautiful day, my neice messaged me while I was out there, and I turned to take a picture of ‘mama’ to share how special my day really was. This went on for a about 45 minutes to an hour without issue, then dad came home. 😬
This is dad standing guard over my stuff after dive bombing my head straight out of the water. 😅 True story.
I barely seen him swim up when he took flight and went straight at my head, and as I jumped up asking WTH…he was making a u-turn and came back for a second attempt before landing here. ha
I was in absolute shock, but never ran. You know ‘we have all seen those videos’, so instictively I knew I was not going to be chased by this damn bird. But I sure didn’t know the proper response for dealing with an angry goose, and he is awful close to the purse that has my keys. So I asked chatgpt. 🤣
I sat on the stone firepit and took this picture for chatgpt and asked how do I deal with an angry goose like this. After it was finished laughing at me, it told me not to run (got it), to stand my ground, etc. It actually told me to take a step forward, but I wasn’t feeling that. lol
But then I seen the muffin sitting there and seized that opportunity. Dad went for it happily, I gathered my stuff and went to finish my photo shoot on the other end of the dock where it meets the land.
I was so close to finishing the pictures, but it wasn’t long before I heard both mom and dad sneaking up behind me hissing up a storm, mom running past to get to the babies, dad still being pretty bullish – but no more air attacks.
Needless to say, I got enough pictures and was certainly willing to call it a day. Heck even mama was hissing at me now, and I am just pleading my case the whole time.
“We had no problems at all, and now you’re filling his head with all this nonsense.”
It was certainly a reality check on what our poor guests must have been enduring since these geese clearly took over the area. They don’t care who paid what to be there, so now we have this framed in the living room with an air can in case of emergency. 
Mama finally had those babies, along with many others in the area. There have been days I’ve pulled up to see several families out grazing the property at once.
I would love to say it feels like a tranquil moment of ‘man and wildlife’ having a moment, but I’m over geese and have a bit of PTSD if I’m being honest. 🫣
I guess they don’t like umbrellas either, you can believe mine is always in the car. 😆
