By Allen Hicks
For the Wausau Daily Herald
Saturday, December 13, 2003

Christmas the goose has found a new home for the holidays.

And the injured Canada goose recently rescued in the town of Richfield is showing some spunk as it adjusts to life at the Antigo-based Raptor Education Group.

"She's doing well, very well - much better than I would have thought," said Marge Gibson, executive director of the bird rescue organization.

It was a week ago when Cathy Zygarlicke organized a wild goose chase with some area residents who eventually captured the injured bird at the Zygarlicke residence in the town of Richfield. Zygarlicke said the bird was probably shot by trespassers on her property.

The Canada goose, dubbed Christmas by the Zygarlicke family, had an injured wing and was unable to fly. Without flight - a goose's main means of protection - Christmas faced probable death from predators like foxes and coyotes, Gibson said.

When Christmas was brought to the Raptor Education Facility, Gibson expected the bird to be timid until it got over the shock of its new surroundings and adjusted to the other large birds at the facility.

But as it turns out, other animals needed to adjust to her.

"She is a funny bird. She took off outside and immediately took on our trumpeter swans," Gibson said. "She started chasing everybody." There are three trumpeter swans at the facility. The swans, an endangered species, can be territorial, Gibson said.

But when Christmas spotted a male trumpeter swan standing near a pond, she ran behind it and grabbed its tail feathers. A bald eagle named Miriam, shot near Marshfield four years ago, was also targeted by Christmas, as were a couple of ravens.

"They were just shocked," Gibson said.

"She just decided she was going to clean house," Gibson added. "She definitely knows how to handle herself." Canada geese are social animals, and Christmas could have been traumatized when she was left behind by her flock, Gibson said. But the bird seems to have adjusted nicely, she said.

Most Canada geese have headed south, said Thomas Meier, project supervisor for the McMillan and Mead wildlife areas. Interior Canada geese breed in Canada and winter in the United States, often traveling to northern Missouri or southern Illinois, he said.

However, there's still some giant Canada geese - a very similar but larger subspecies - in central Wisconsin, wherever open water remains. The big geese live in the United States year round and usually travel only as far as necessary to find open water. They're often spotted in southern Wisconsin or northern Illinois during the winter, Meier said.

Christmas was born this year and hasn't migrated yet. She might never get that opportunity because it's uncertain whether she'll fly again, Gibson said.

Canada geese mate for life during the spring, and because the goose is so young, it's unlikely she has found a mate. Christmas does seem to be on good terms with a young male goose staying at the facility with a similar injury, Gibson said.

The companionship might make the situation easier for both birds, she said. "She and the male are getting along really well."