The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1891-11-27
GOOD GOOSE STORIES.



Civilized ssrrssndisgs-
Few wild geese are seen in Colombo
Of late years though there are thou
sands Of them found usually in the
large reservations in the west and
northwest As rule m Indian will
not eat goose or duck meat as long a.
he can get ''cotton-tail'' or prairie
dog; II is not the kind Of meat they
like On Green river In eastern Utah
thousands Of geese congregate In the
fall and remain during the winter. The
Indians hardly ever shoot 1T them. and
they flock together. sometimes Is many
rs ten thousand. on . sandbar. and
keep up = hideous noise day and night
all winter long.
Wild geese, under certain conditions
when casvht. become quite domestic
In Meekr there are three owned At the
Meeker hotel which have been there
nearly five years They were caught
when young. and for awhile after being
grown their wings were kept clipped
Afterward no attention was paid them.
and they were left to take care Of them
selves, but they have never attempted
20 leave. though they ramble about the
town unrestrained.
The supposition usually prevails that
wild geese build their nests in the long
grass and bushes fringing the isolated
streams and lakes, where they usually
congregate TO rear their young. Such.
however. Is not the case. for their nests
are often found in the top Of trees
Quite resort for wild geese Is found
at the head W aters Of the Yampa river.
and a year ago two boys. living near
Steamboat springs found q nest in the
top Of a cottonwood tree The goose
was sitting on the nest. and the two
boys shot her of and then one
climbed up To inspect the nest II
contained quite number Of eggs. and
the next thing discussed was how to
get them to the ground First they
tried dropping them. the boy on the
ground holding his hat but after break
ing two that plan was abandoned and
then the boy up the tree thought OF
novel plan that worked 70 perfec-
ton. He took OF his boots and socks.
and. placing the latter inside the boots
20 form soft lining. carefully placed
the eggs within. then fastened the boots
20 the waistband Of his trousers bv
icosening his suspender~ upon either
side and passing the ends through the
fnger-straps OF the boots and again
buttoning them TO the waistband. Thus
arranged. he successfully descended the
tree.
The eggs it seems. are next to indie
struciible. and will sand plenty Of
rough usage In the present case the
boys were on horseback and rode
around all afternoon with the eggs
strapped in coat or saddle They
were placed thai night in q pan until
the morning following. and then IL oc-
Cured to one Of the boys TO place them
Of the eggs Matched. and the gosling<
grew TO be full-grown geese. They
would go 70 the river every day and re-
turn TO the accustomed roost every
night. regularly. and wait around for
their breakfast before going to the river
again in the morning.
One day q sportsman from Denver
came to the place for = few days recrea-
tion. He saw the geese in the river and
began shooting At them He showed
his greenness from the fact that he
would shoot one and wade into the
river and get il. and then 20 out and
from the bank shoot another one. and
the geese all the while never thought Of
flying. but kept swimming about him
frantically screaming.
Another odd case was learned Of a
Steamboat springs : few days ago.
Miss Lulu Crawford has three wild ros-
iings which were caught by her soon
after being Matched. They were placed
IN box in which a very small bantam
hen had taken notion 70 sit She At
once adopted the goslings and seemed
70 be as proud Of them Is IL they were
her own chicks When seen by the
writer the goslings were two-fhirds
grown and four times as large as the l
hen. though she insisted on being =
mother to them still. and followed them /.
about all day. At night she would get /
them into convenient spot and try 70 |
cover them Denver Times