Wednesday, February 7

Wondering What Made Our Geese Get Louder

We've lived in Jacksonville for over six months. Geese are annoying here, like they were in Milwaukee. The main difference is that the geese never fly South from Jacksonville. At least they don't seem to fly anywhere. However, in the last week of January, 2018, the geese in our neighborhood suddenly and obviously got much louder (all night long), so what's the deal with that?

Blue Bood Moon
My wife had the initial thought that the brightness of the moon was to blame for the louder geese. This was one of the brightest full moons of the year, and I agreed that it was possible that more was frightening the birds. Maybe the moon was giving them bad dreams

I told my wife that maybe the geese from up North are moving in on the local population. We've been told for years that birds migrate, and then we get somewhere that has yearlong populations of birds, only to wonder why there aren't many more birds here in the winter than in the summer. Do our local birds also migrate down to Miami or something? Do the factions fight it out (overnight)? Do less popular ponds see huge increases?

Maybe it's mating season for these birds. Since most of the behavior of these birds reminds me of American tourists in Europe (big, drunk, loud, stupid), it makes sense that their lovemaking endeavors would be just as annoying as their communal crossing of streets. Whether the loud honking signifies fighting over a mate, mating, or the equivalence of a locker room high-five, it may be related to love.

Unknown Factors
Look, this is my first year in Florida. I did not find any legit sources talking about how geese get suddenly louder in Northeast Florida in late January or early February. Maybe it's not even a thing, or maybe it's so obvious that people around here don't even write about it. These geese might have gotten loud just this year for some reason. Like some kind of weather-related phenomenon. Or maybe it was related to a visiting snake or alligator to one of the goose hangouts.

By the end of the first week in February, 2018, the geese are not as loud. We did not do anything to make this happen. I was planning on some border fencing or BB gun pot shots if it kept up. Maybe even dressing up in a ninja outfit and scaring the birds from behind trees. Luckily, not of that has seemed as necessary as it did several days earlier. Let's hope that's the most we hear from these birds for some time to come.

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