They say “the more the merrier” and this patient mother goose and her partner seem to have taken this to heart; the loving Canada goose was recently spotted by Mike Digout, who was amazed to discover that she was taking care of a whopping 47 little goslings.
Digout lives in Saskatoon, Canada and was sitting by the Saskatchewan riverbank when he first spotted the family of geese.
Digout was actually looking to photograph beavers, but the unusual family pique his interest.
Digout noticed that a goose was caring for 16 goslings, and he found the large number of dependants impressive.
However, he was soon to become far more impressed.
Fascinated by the mother goose and her babies, Digout began returning to the river each night to look for the unusual family.
And every time he spotted the mother goose, her brood seemed to have grown.
One night, the number of goslings had gone from an impressive 16 to a mindblowing 47, and the line of little goslings trailing the mother goose made for a spectacular sight.
Digout captured the sight on camera, and posted a picture of the super-mom and her babies to Facebook.
“This is a long line of goslings. It keeps going; and going; and going …” Digout wrote in his post.
As it turns out, the mother goose has so many goslings due to a phenomenon known as “gang brooding.”
Gang brooding means that two or more pairs of geese parents decide to combine their families and raise their goslings collectively.
This means that the goose mom is essentially babysitting a large number of goslings while their parents get some time to rest.
Considering how fast her brood grew, she must be known as quite the caretaker; she’s both a super mom and a supernanny!
Digout kept regularly observing the massive family and took many adorable pictures of their lives together.
The goslings enjoyed snuggling up under the mother goose and when they grew to big to fit under her, they simply slept together in a big, adorable, snuggly pile.
Digout posted an adorable picture of some of the goslings squeezed in under the mother goose and commented: “By the time this Momma had 25 goslings under her she was almost six inches off the ground.”
While observing the goose and her babies, Digout has watched them go on happy family-walks, watched the goslings learn how to dip their heads under the water without toppling over, and watched them all cuddle up together as one big happy family.
As the goslings have grown bigger, the brood has now split into three separate gang broods.
However, the mother goose is still caring for an impressive number of goslings; at the moment, she has 25 babies to keep safe and happy.
Canada geese care for their babies until after they’ve returned home from their winter migration, so these little babies won’t be leaving their mom anytime soon.
Next spring, after returning from migration, the males will leave the brood. The females will stay with the brood until they are ready to mate and start their own families.
This adorable family has given us so much joy, and we’re glad that the little goslings get to enjoy the safety and happiness that comes with having a big and loving family.
And the mother goose deserves serious kudos for staying so patient and affectionate while trying to raise 47 wild little souls – way to go!
