Mama goose looks after 47 babies and treats them like they’re her own.
This amazing mother cares for babies that don’t belong to her.
Mike Digout often spots Canadian geese when he takes a stroll along the riverbank in Saskatoon, Canada.
He takes his camera with him on his walks because there is a lot of wildlife.
One night, Digout noticed a strange group of geese and felt the urge to take out his camera.
He found a mother goose with 47 babies, not just a few.
It all started when nesting season began.
Every night I went out walking along the riverbank, looking for beavers. There were lots of geese around too, since they were flying in from the south in search of a place to build their nests, Digout said.
It was really funny to watch the geese arguing over where to build their nests, and then guarding them afterwards.
The baby geese, sometimes called “little tennis balls with legs”, hatched in May.
Digout decided to take pictures of the cute, fuzzy animals while he waited for the beavers to appear.
Digout got attacked by a mom goose who had a huge flock of goslings. All the goslings crawled under her feathers and stayed there for the night.
I was shocked to find out this mom had 16 babies, so I kept going back each night to see her and her babies. Every day, it looked like she had more babies with her.
She gradually increased her count; one day she had 25, and the next day she had 30.
The mother goose had 47 goslings in the end.
She was thankful to have her partner to give her assistance.
Jamie Foxx has been discharged from the hospital and is now recovering, his daughter said.
These kids weren’t all related to each other. The mother goose was looking after goslings from other goose families.
Groups of young people hanging together in urban and suburban areas are often called “gang broods.”
Geese parents take turns watching over each other’s children, allowing the adults to get a break for a few nights.
This mother goose was really good at looking after lots of baby geese.
She had the gang behavior mastered.
Digout said it was amazing how relaxed she was with so many baby geese around. She appears to be a very patient mother.
Digout saw the goslings grow quickly, so they were too big to fit under their mother anymore.
After that, the group started to separate again.
Today I visited and filmed a flock of geese swimming. There were about 60 goslings in the group, and many adults had come back. I posted this on Facebook.
It’s becoming more difficult to tell which goslings are the oldest and which ones are adults. It’s amazing to think that just six weeks ago they were tiny, yellow fluff balls. It’s been amazing to watch them grow.
There are about three families in total. The original goose mom that Digout saw still has a really big family.
She and her partner still have 25 young ones that they look after.
Digout anticipates that they will all be together when they travel south.
Digout has a special connection with the animals he photographs.
It looks like they are intentionally posing for him.
You can view his photos by visiting his Facebook page.
Watch the video to find out more about Digout’s observations of the geese group.