Horrible Honking Geese

Kermit, in his NEW Attitude as of Sunday. He Now Faces Ahead!

Inspired by both Chipseal accounts of honking geese, and of Ed Sailland accounts of geese, I felt envious today, and I decided that the motorist geese in my life were too infrequent. Still, I was not disappointed, as Kermit and I set forth to see if we could get honked at. Well, I'm not only able to say we WERE honked at, but one of the perps actually did a little hissing as well. In their defense, I should say that they were not totally unjustified, as their apparently aggressive actions were really in defense of their families' best interest. Myself, I tried to stay sensitive to harmonious relations.

At lunchtime, I decided to look for honking geese, out in the wilds around Fort Worth Alliance Airport, since none of my motorist friends have been aggressive anytime recently. Soon, I saw a little path, such as that below. You'll note at the far left of the picture below, a parked car, with its motorist enjoying the scenery, not at all worried that someone would be foolish enough to run her down from behind. In truth, her faith was justified since traffic is very low on the four lane, median divided road. Actually, it's so low that it is almost creepy and I wonder why Fort Worth feels it needs to include bike lanes on the road in its plans. You will also note that said path does NOT actually join to the road. Instead, it is a "get off and go around in circles" path. Even if you are walking, you must touch the grass to touch the concrete again.

This Path is Even Bleaker Than the Picture Makes it Look. NO Trees, But Keep Going...

In the other direction, things looked promising for some honking geese...

The Pond at Least Has Some Birds - Looking From the Path Above

Sure enough, one soon came out honking. Others followed, and one even hissed at me. I only got the one shot, as my thumb was over the camera for the rest of the bunch. Even real geese can be more intimidating than the casual reader might imagine.

This was the Only Goose Shot That Survived Steve's Thumb

Their apparent aggressiveness was quickly revealed to be somewhat more defensive - do NOT assume that someone honking at you, as a cyclist, is automatically an aggressive indication. It COULD be just the opposite. The good news is that the flock quickly decided I was not a determined predator, and Kermit and I were allowed to leave without further conflict.

THIS is One Reason They Came Toward Me, Honking Loudly

One little concrete box, so many goose eggs.

As Chandra would say, "peace." As I would say myself, some honks are different than others...