Goose Kate
and her trumpeting "ah-honk"
Kate is a Canada goose and lived with other wild Canada geese on a company premises. People noticed that something was wrong with Kate’s wings and contacted an animal welfare organisation to find out how the animal could be helped. Kate has two tipped wings – her lifelong handicap.
The only person who could have helped Kate would have been the hunter. But that was out of the question for Kate’s rescuer, and so the beautiful Kate came to Gut Aiderbichl.
Aiderbichl rescuers were among her rescuers, who immediately contacted our animal emergency centre. Aiderbichlers know that an animal’s handicap does not matter to the animal welfare organisation. Whether they are blind, of small stature or limping through life, animals with disabilities must be given the same chance in life as healthy animals. For over twenty years, the employees at Gut Aiderbichl have been learning to provide special support to their protégés with disabilities.
How does Kate get tilt wings?
Unnatural feed that is too high in energy or protein and lacks important vitamins and minerals is said to lead to these deformities, in short: malnutrition during the growth phase. Ducks and geese like Kate are primarily affected.A tilt wing occurs when the wing feathers develop faster than the muscles and bones that normally hold the hand wing in place. The weight of the quills, which are initially filled with blood, pulls the hand downwards and the incorrect posture becomes fixed during further development.
The origin of the Canada goose
The Canada goose originates from North America and was naturalised in Great Britain in the 17th century and in Scandinavia in the 20th century. It has also settled in Germany and is now established as a year-round breeding bird in Europe.
As an original inhabitant of Nordic tundra landscapes, open cultural landscapes with lakes, ponds and other still waters are just as favourable to it as parks with bodies of water in urban areas.
The Canada goose is monogamous and hatches five to six eggs in spring, in rare cases up to eleven. The gander is strictly territorial and guards its female vigorously. Two months after hatching, the young are ready to fledge, but remain with their parents until the following spring before becoming independent.
My home is my castle
Canada geese can be aggressive and do not retreat when they and their family are threatened. If an adult Canada goose has the impression that its chicks or nest are in danger, it stretches its neck, spreads its wings wide and hisses while moving its head up and down. Then the only thing that counts is: save yourself if you can.
Kate is relaxed
In Kate’s new, safely protected forever home, there is chattering in many places at the animal visitor centre in Deggendorf. Kate sings her own song and trills “ah-honk” like a trumpet. Confident and upright, she waddles around the farmyard with the other geese and ducks. One of her special friends is Antonio, a Pomeranian goose. Despite her tilting wings, Antonio has fallen madly in love with the beautiful Canada goose Kate.
What we have to learn is so difficult and yet so simple and clear: It is normal to be different.
-Richard von Weizsäcker
