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If all the recent photos of Cago, (the lone Canada goose at Harlem Meer in Central Park) look the same, there is reason for that.
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Every time I arrive to the Meer, Cago walks up to me gregariously and literally stares into my eyes in warm greeting.
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Or, perhaps Cago simply enjoys posing for photos and if human, would have been a perfect supermodel.
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Certainly Cago is far easier to photograph than most animas -- including my own dogs. (That is especially true of Tina, my senior Corgi mix, who I have never been able to get look directly into a camera.)
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Still, it seems to be Cago's way to be accommodating and cooperative -- not just with me, but with most people, any visiting geese and what has become over the past few weeks, a huge influx of mallards to Harlem Meer.
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It seems there is some kind of magical Santa Claus who regularly drops by Harlem Meer and dumps duck weed all over the lake.
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A couple of days ago it appeared that most the mallards had done a good job in eating most of the duck weed as it was slowly disappearing.
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But, then yesterday, at least half the lake was covered in the green foilage and the mallards were once again, having an easy feast.
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Santa must have stopped by again!
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But, if Cago is laid back and easy going with all the extra mallard activity, the four domestic ducks are not!
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These days, when seeing Cochise, Carol, Connie and Carol, all four ducks (especially the boys) are mostly busy chasing and attempting to give "bum's rush" to the mallards.
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"Damn, where are all these pesky mallards coming from?" one can almost hear them angrily squawking.
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Though they may appreciate having some mallards around in the winter to help maintain open water, there is little question that the flightless, domestic ducks simply regard the mallards now as "nuisance" invaders of their space (and duck weed)!
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But, if Cochise and company are seeking any "help" from Cago to chase off mallards, that is simply not happening. Cago is cool with just about everything at Harlem Meer -- including nearly 200 "invading" mallards.
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(On this note, there is an interesting article today about Canada geese accepting stray white geese into their flock. Fact is, Canada geese are usually accommodating and accepting of most waterfowl: http://www.wnypapers.com/news/article/current/2013/09/21/112690/white-geese-mingling-with-canadians)
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What is odd in all this is that one would expect more Canada geese to fly into the Meer with the bountiful supply of duck weed on the water.
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But, that has not been happening.
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This past week, nine geese temporarily flew into the Meer and relaxed on the water for one evening.
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But the next day they were gone.
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USDA WS, Bloomberg, Gillibrand and the rest of the "powers that be" in NYC have done a fantastic, bang up job in nearly wiping out the resident Canada goose population in the city.
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Cago appears to be a lonely and still surviving symbol of that barbaric program of wildlife destruction.
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One shudders to think what would happen should some plane collide with a flock of flying mallards some day.
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But, for the moment, the mallards of New York City are still safe from all out massacre and are instead, taking full advantage of "fall fests" of duck weed to fatten up for a long, cold winter ahead.
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And even the four ticked off domestics at Harlem Meer can't fend them off as they are heavily outnumbered by the mallards. The domestics should take a page from Cago and just hang back, relax and conserve energy and pose for photos.
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As for Cago, it appears her only hope for eventual life as a goose again might be when migratory geese arrive and perhaps some young, unattached gander takes a shine to her.
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But, for now, Cago seems content to just hang with the ducks and pose for humans with electronic devices.
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"Life as a goose" seems to becoming a distant, nostalgic memory for Cago -- perhaps never to be known or experienced again. -- PCA
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