Night Surprises

Part of my job is to control goose reproduction on my sites. Resident Canada geese have grown to more than 90,000 in the state of Maryland. To accomplish this, I cover the eggs with vegetable oil which prevents the eggs from developing. Momma Goose does not like this and I have had several close calls. The other night I was oiling some eggs to prevent them from hatching. I was working at night, because the site is too busy during the day and it’s easier in this case to deal with the eggs without answering 100 questions.

I was at the nest site area and moved up to the first nest. There I found, using my head (literally), that the tree it was under was actually an unusually tall thorn bush. I oiled the eggs after removing most of the thorns from my arms.

I was proceeding to the next nest when I noticed a stick that was oddly shaped and bigger than the others around it. For some reason, I stopped to examine the stick and noticed the fanged head on it.

Note: it’s hard to distinguish between a copperhead and a rat snake by flashlight.

I like snakes, and figured he had the right of way. We agreed that one of us should leave, so I found a real stick and touched his tail with it. He left and I nervously finished the next nest.

The third nest was that of a domestic goose and, since I have no permit to touch it, I just counted the eggs. She had laid over thirty, but it was clear that she was not trying to hatch any of them. Thank God for that tender mercy.