Nils and Goosey
Two Leine Geese in Search of a Quiet Place
The Leine goose breed has been known since 1850, and unfortunately man almost made them extinct. In 1994, six surviving Leine geese were found and breeding began again. It was almost too late.
Do we live in a "I don't care society"?
Can you imagine that? Why do humans let many wonderful animal breeds simply die out? What is happening?
Does it really matter if many animal and plant species become extinct because we destroy their habitat or because of environmental toxins, environmental disasters or global warming? Do we care about life? If so, human survival is also in danger, because without plants and animals there is no life. Not even for humans.
The Leine Geese are not a freak of nature
The Leinegans are available with white or pied feathers. The strong neck is carried upright, the head is a little arched, the beak and legs are orange-red and the Leinegans have blue eyes. It is also a patient grazing goose that walks far and seeks out good food. It is also hardy, undemanding and persevering.
Nils and Gänselein in search of a new home
At the age of four weeks, the Leine geese were taken in and raised by animal-loving people. The rare geese grew up and gave the owners much joy. As soon as they came into the orchard where Nils and Gänselein lived, they came waddling joyfully to greet their humans.
Last winter, however, the nature of Nils and Gänselein changed. They had become aggressive. It was noticeable that they reacted completely aggressively especially to everything that was orange.
What was going on? The neighbour who farmed the adjacent fields usually wore an orange forester's jacket when he worked. He wanted to annoy Nils and Gänselein on purpose and threw stones at their fence.
Nils and Gänselein should be able to lead a quiet goose life
They were taken to a nearby sanctuary where the owner could continue to look after them and visit them. The geese were content and became calm again and were happy when they heard the woman's voice.
The next disaster was approaching
Nils and Gänselein shared the run with chickens and ducks. The area was too small and unfortunately the water was not always clean for the animals.
So it happened that the two geese were heavily wormed and suffered from infectious diseases. They were brought back to the garden where they had grown up as young geese.
Unfortunately, one of them kept having inflamed eyes and had to be captured to be able to treat the eyes. This in turn did not sit well with the partner goose and she became angry with the woman.
The back and forth had probably not been the right way to go
The animal-loving people had always meant well for the rare companions, but the aggressiveness could no longer be stopped and a new home had to be found for good. So the two turned to Gut Aiderbichl and Nils and Gänselein were allowed to move in and made Benedikt, the estate manager, very happy right from the start. They immediately integrated well into the goose group in Deggendorf and made new friends there. But unfortunately, one morning came the big shock: Gänselein was found lifeless in the enclosure. There were no visible injuries, probably the little heart had simply stopped beating...
"Dear little goose, it was very nice that we were allowed to get to know you and that you showed us every day how much you enjoyed life. We hope you are doing well where you are now. We are thinking of you."
Nils continues to enjoy his life at Gut Aiderbichl Deggendorf, always thinking of his little geese.
