Trisha... My Poor Girl.

[Emmy]

Maybe it seems like a goose's death isn't very significant... but she is so important to me...

I raised her and her incubatormate Hohenheim from six hours old.... they were barely dry from the egg when I got them. They've been together since they hatched!

They are wonderful companions, close to each other, and close to my mom and I, we lost my stepdad a month ago... and now...

I came home an hour or two ago, and went otuside to call them and offer my "i'm home" luvvin's

I could hear Hoho call to me, and yet he didn't come running, but didn;t hear trisha... so i went looking, and she ws all crumpled ner her tank.... i was sure she was dead but my mom went and picked her up and she honked a little. Her neck is broken and her lung is shreaded... i could kill that damn dog that attacked her.... its going to the pound in the morning.

But Hoho is alive and unharmed, and in the backyard calling her desprately.... i know my birds, and he is frantic!

I need to get him a new companion to keep him company... but I feel like a traitor for planning on a new goose when Trish isn't even dead yet!

I just feel so helpless.... she's dying, and yet all I can think to pray is "please God, let her dies painlessly.... don't let my baby suffer...

She's in our bathtub, wrapped in a blanket, and I pray by morning she'll be gone...

God loves animals.... he has to, right? I mean, he made them, and if he can love men, surely he can love a sweet, innocent creature like my goose.... all she ever did was bring my mom and me joy and love (and the occasional fanny-nip...)

I just feel so helpless.... I have no idea how to protect my remaining baby.... they've been so precious to me for the past year...

I just don't know what to do.

[Chrystal]

Hi Emmy,

I'm so sorry to hear of poor Trisha. What a sad situation. I'm not sure I can offer any advise but just wanted to let you know you are in my thoughts. You shouldnt feel like a traitor wanting to find him a new companion, you're just tring to think of what will be best for him.

Take care, Chrystal

[Emmy]

I appreciate that.

Update, Hoho, my male, got to stay inside all night because the dogs who attacked Trish got out again, and spent the night waking me up with crying everytime I tried to go to sleep, so i lept for two hours, and he didn't sleep at all...

She's still alive! We were sure she had died, but she tried to stand up, broken neck and all!

Mom says we can try and get her a vet.... even if its just to tell us she's gonna die, and.... you know.

I actually hoped she'd die durring the night, I just can't imagine how she couldn't be in pain, but Mom says she isn't, that if she was she's be more stressed and not let us look at the wound.

I'm scared to go into the bathroom and see her in this state, I'm trying so hard to remember her as the onery thing that used to chase people (especially electricians) out of ouf backyard, honking and flapping like a little imp.

[Laurie]

Emmy, I'm so sorry about your goose. What an awful thing to happen. When will you be taking her to the vet? Laurie

[Emmy]

Hopefully tomorrow...

no vets are open today...

But mom says we may not be able to afford treatment... thankfully, she seems to be breathing without trouble, so maybe her lung isn't as bad.... i'm praying for it to just require a neck splint and some stitches.

[Emmy]

No need to worry about costs now...

Trisha died a couple hours ago.... my poor baby held on as long as she could... her fight just had to end.

[Maylissa]

Emily,

I'm so sorry to hear about your precious Trisha losing her battle for life and I, too, hope she didn't suffer unduly. At least she had yours and Hoho's love for her to take with her to the Other Side. Such a sudden passing is so hard to come to terms with, I know, and while even those of us with more common types of companions suffer the ignorance of the masses when it comes to empathy and understanding for our losses, I can well imagine how much harder it is when those beloveds are even less common, so you have my sympathies for this, too.

And of course God loves all His creations! Why else would they even be here? Just because Mankind as a whole doesn't recognize their equal value, doesn't mean they don't HAVE the value they were given right upon their creation. As they say, "there are none so blind as those who won't see."

Of utmost importance now though, is the planning required to keep Hoho safe from predators, however that might be accomplished. I don't know how he's normally kept, or if he flies around freely or not, so can't offer anything specific. Perhaps a large, fenced enclosure for him or something else suitable?...something dogs can't jump over? I'm sure you don't want him to meet with the same or similar fate, so you are being forced into thinking up some solutions. I also know that WILD geese mate for life, but am unsure if this applies as well to domestic geese, so can't really comment on getting another companion for Hoho, although even a 'pal', versus a 'mate' would likely be good company for him.

Please come back and share as needed and to let us know both how you're feeling during your grief and how plans are coming along. My sympathies are with you during this traumatic time.

Edited November 20, 2006 by Maylissa

[Emmy]

Hoho is free to run in a fenced in part of our yard... it was our own dog who attacked Trisha, i'm ashamed to say, but she's being taken to the pound. (She killed three chickens as well.... she's not a fit farm dog.)

I never would have expected anything like this.... those geese sent grown coytes(sp?) running yelping for their lives... they were tough... they trusted our dogs... and i suppose that was her fatal mistake.

But Bonnie (the killer) is being taken away, and the other outside dog will now be an inside. (she's a black lab.... and she's very housebroken and old... she's not just being taken in ebcause of this, but because its best for her.)

Yes, domestic geese mate for life, but Trish and Hoho weren't mates, they weren't even a year odl yet... they look fully grown, but aren't old enough to mate.... they were incubatormates.... together since birth.

I hate Bonnie, but I have decided to write her a good profile sheet despite that.... she's good with kids, maybe she needs to be in a city home, far from smaller animals.

I'm hurting pretty bad.... i have bipolar disorder, and leaving Hohohenheim safely enclosed in our bathroom for two hours today while we took my aunt to the doctor made me burst into tears in a resturaunt....

Thank god thanksgiving is being held at our hosue this year.... i won't have to leave for the holiday... i'm gonna try and convince my mom to let me lock hoho in the bathroom everytime we leave until he has some more geese around. (They fight best in packs... you should have seen the two of them chasing off wild dogs.... they were fierce...)

Thank you so much for caring enough to reply... I think my mom's pretty sick of my constant crying by now... I had a breakdown when i found a dead rabbit today. (Natural causes and not a pet.... but it still freaked me out pretty bad, especially after finding the dead chickens.)

[avsqr_dancer]

I too want to add my sympathy on your loss. Any companion that we love is precious to us, no matter what anyone else says or thinks. Take the time to grieve and feel your pain, no matter how difficult it is. It does get easier with time, but loss is so difficult and one of the most devastating aspects of our lives. I wish you well in your journey toward healing.