The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-07-28
FORETELL STORMS.
GEESE SERVE AS eARoMETERS FOR
A NEW JERSEY FARMER.
While the FIocks Sometimes Make Nui-
sances of Themselves With Their Noise,
They Yet Perform Valuable Services by
Predicting What the Weather VIII BE.

bhuces oil themselves Win Ineif NOISE,
They Yet Perform Valuable Services by
Predicting What the Weather VIII BE.
maybe you have often noticed that
some farmers keep geese year in and
year out, let them have the run of the
farm and seem to show them all kinds
of consideration, said an observant
summer boarder, yet are always swear
ing that they are the biggest nuisance
in the world. If you have noticed that
popularity Of the daily rounds Of the
husbandman, you have doubtless many
a time wondered why in blaZes the
farmer kept such nuisances on his prem
Uses. | used TO wonder why IT was, but
/ never bothered myself TO find ont the
reason, and one summer an explanation
OF the mystery came about in funny
way. Ta3 passing NY vacation On
farm over III Jersey. The farmer had
big flock OF geese, and he was eternaily
throwing the weightiest kind of Jersey
cuss words at them. One day / sat On
the front stoop talking with my host.
The geese were placidly cropping grass
down along the road, big ganGer lead
ing them ON. Peace, tranquility and
oontantmcnt spoke ia every movement
the fowls made. There wasn't cloud
in the sky that could see. The farm
er's men We're working without much
apparent vim at ralling and leading hay
down in meadow not Il great way off.
Suddenly the old gander poked up
his head, gave voice to peculiar
squawk, lifted his wings and started
off ON run as fast as his big webbed
feet would let him go. All the geese
poked up their necks at the sound of
the gander's voice, lifted their wings
and, with "a chorus of noises that only
flock cf geese can produce, started
! after the gander as fast as they could
waddle. The gandcr ran perhaps 20
yards, and then, with n wild shrek, he
took wing and few in the direction Of
a pond q short distance from the road.
The geese flew after him, filing the air
with their discordant cries. Gander
and geese alighted in the pond, where
| they all gathered i'll bunch, held u
consultation in u subdued chorus of
cackles and went through all sorts of
! cratic maneuvers for few minutes.
! Then they separated and swan about
as placidly as they had been pasturing
! by the roadside few minutes before
"At the first movement of the gan
der, when he disturbed the tranquility
of the feeding flock, my host rose quick
! " to his feet and as he moved toward
, the meadow exclaimed:
"'There's them ding haydn hands
workin as if they had all the rest OF the
year to git that hay in, and here we're
goin to be ketched in a tearin old show
| er in less than an hour, or else there
amt no use in keepin geese.
| "Then he hurried down to the mead
ow, spurred up the men and took an
active hand himself at the loading OF
the hay. Before 10 minutes had passed
saw clouds banking in the horizon,
and presently the mutter Of thunder
! was heard among them. The farmer
was right. In an hour one Of the hard
est thunderstorms 1 ever saw was rag
ing over that part of New Jersey, and
it caught the last load of the old mans
hay in transit. After supper that night
| questioned the farmer on the goose
J question and found that the reason Inc
! tolerated flock of geese Oh his farm
was that they kept him posted on the
weather.
- They hain't never failed me yit.
he said When git up in the mornin
and see them geese out on the pond, divin
and dressin down their feathers as il
they was gittin ready to go to some par
ty or other, / know that we are sure OF
clear, warm, dry weather, and l make
my calculations accordin'ly If the
geese amt q dressin themselves much,
but act kinder as if it wasn't of much
use to spruce up, then keep my eye on
'em. That's warnin that we are IL
danger of spell of weather. If the
geese quit the pond and don't go back
much through the day, know that the
danger holds, and git myself ready fol
q good old fashioned rain, sot in for
day or two anyhow. If they feed along
awhile and waddle back to the POND
chipperlike and go to dressin themselves
and divin, I'm quite certain for sure
that there won't be no sot rain com
mencin that day. If the geese gifts NJ
all of sudden and tears around like
you seen 'em today, then there's
shower comm, and a-comin fast, yor
kin bet cooky.
THAT'S the reason some farmers keel
geese around and still 'holler' it GU
every little while that they wish thu
ding things were in Halifax. They arr
weather prophets, and the farmers be
lieve in them as firmly as they do IL
the tradition that there's right and |
wrong time of the month to put in pc
! tatoes and to butcher hogs This farme
told me this and other funny thing
about geese as storm prophets. He sait
that when they prophesy a storm TIT
sounds they make are not like their erie
at any other time. An expert reader o
geese signals can tell the frightened or,