The Story Behind Bill the Watch Goose.

Ok.....so I either don't listen very well or I'm suffering from CRS (possibly a bit of both). At any rate I need to correct that it was Bill's upper bill that was broken off. After sending the link to this blog....my neighbors that Bill guards.....sent me the whole story.

"

Bill lost half of his upper bill in a battle with another goose over a woman.  So involved in combat, they paid no attention to where they were and both plunged over the cliff, wings and legs going in every direction.  Bill dragged himself back up the cliff and plopped down, upper half of bill broken and red tongue hanging out uncovered.  He decided to recuperate in our yard...or maybe he just couldn't move any farther for awhile.  We started calling him Half A Bill, then Fifty Cents and finally he became just plain Bill.  The other geese shunned him.  He had a hard time eating and lost a lot of weight.  John gave him some corn.  But he couldn't eat it.  It was very difficult for him to preen his feathers so he looked terrible for a long time. The neighbors noticed that he sat right next to us by the river and started calling him our pet goose.  He hasn't spent the winter here but he returns each spring.  This year we've seen him fly down to the river to swim with another goose at the end of the day.  "She" has never come into our yard but we're hoping she might be his new girlfriend. " Carrie S