LJI: wild goose chase

[beeker121]

The Denver area has a lot of Canadian Geese.  I didn’t expect that when we first moved here, some live here year round in our mostly moderate weather and some make this the southern stop on their migration.  There are several parks in the greater Denver area with lovely lakes and expanses of grass which equals perfect goose habitat

Comments

[tonithegreat]

Danger geese! I suppose they can all be danger geese with the right circumstances. But I know the park you’re talking about here and I can picture it all.

[beeker121]

I thought running with the geese would be super cool for about a day. Then I just kept dodging and weaving. Denver is actually working to reduce the geese population, though it seems like a losing fight.

[favoritebean]

Have you considered running at Washington Park instead? They used to have a lot of geese, but the numbers are smaller now.

I always cringe when I think about the treks through City Park. Especially near the zoo, because the sidewalks were ALWAYS covered in goose poop. I've heard it's better than it used to be, for what it's worth.

[beeker121]

Interestingly I've never run at Wash Park. It's just far enough away that it would be driving to go for a run which always feels a little odd, but I've heard nice things about the park and do want to get there at some point.

Yeah, City Park at certain times of year is just crazy. Denver is actively working on ways to reduce the goose population, but I'm not sure that's a battle they're ever going to win.

[roina_arwen]

This was very sweet - sounds like quite the workout!

[beeker121]

Heh - yes unexpected sprints chased by an angry goose do wonders for your heart rate. Thanks!

[static_abyss]

I love reading about people's experience with geese. I live in a large city and I have only seen geese one time in all my life. So this entry was such a treat. Hope your runs are going better nowadays.

[beeker121]

I have since moved to a local suburb, bout our nearby park still has geese at the pond. They seem a little more amenable to moving out of the way and the local parks department sends a sweeper through for the poop every few days so I feel more friendly to them now.

[rayaso]

I feel for you. Canadian geese are big and aggressive, and have driven out many of the smaller native geese. The big avian danger on our local biking/running trail is the the wild turkey. They like to cluster on the trail and are too stupid to get out of the way.

[beeker121]

The birds that don't move just fascinate me. Even the wood ducks at the nearby pond will hustle their waddle when I come through. Turkeys are big too which makes them harder to dodge.

[rayaso]

Lots of turkeys wander the streets of residential neighborhoods and won't get out of the way of cars. They just sit there, big, dumb, and ugly.