"Geese are only human." - Helga Fischer, quoted by Konrad Lorenz in On Aggression
"It has happened to me that I simply failed to recognize a well-known [gander] after he had suddenly fallen in love." - Konrad Lorenz, On Aggression
Natural Sciences 2 with Stuart Patterson met a little early today in order to take a trip to Chinatown. We trekked to the red line, waited for our transportation and then walked through a neighborhood to find what seemed to be a hidden park. Our goal was to find and observe geese in their natural habitats, exhibiting natural behaviors. We succeeded beautifully. There were many grey and brown geese, almost all of them paired off and enjoying the "married" goose life. We wrote down our observations on their behavior and shared them in-between discussions about the Lorenz we've been reading. Following is a photo record of our journey there and back. We took the Red Line of the CTA, accessible with our handy-dandy CTA passes supplied by Shimer college.
Cermak-Chinatown is only one stop away on the Red Line and is filled with good food and interesting shops. Those weren't our destinations today though as we traveled through Chinatown to go to a wonderful park.
In the picture to the right are the backs of my classmates heads as we walk down the stairs from the 'L' to Cermak Road.
Stuart Patterson, our facilitator for Natural Sciences 2.
First-year Adam Bechtol observing a pair of geese.
Adam attempting to get a goose to eat from his hand. He failed.
Exactly what we came to see! A goose chasing another away from his pair-bond.
First-year Bear indicating what geese are pairs and which are alone.
The Lorenz discussion out on the grass.
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