In a light rain, on the rocky end of the beach, at the water edge, the oldest goslings, along with their parents, feed on the algae found on the old pilings. To the right, the youngest goslings feed among the rocks on the shore, watched over by their parents. One of the little goslings, while searching for delectable morsels, strays to close to the group of older goslings. Too late its father issues warning honks; the small creature is in the midst of the much larger offspring. Three of the older goslings catch the younger one in the water, surrounding it, and biting at its neck, as its agitated parents engage in threat displays directed at the other family group. The gosling struggling in the water makes a difficult target for the bigger goslings, so their attacks and their mother’s occasional bite do no serious damage, and its manages to scramble up between two rocks to hunker down. Fatigued by the assaults the small creature lies still, the assailants lose interest, and then they swim away. As its father continues to summon it with honks, the gosling rouses itself, and labors over the rocks in its path, as it endeavors to reach its family.
At the very same time, the behavior of the four safe goslings becomes decidedly peculiar. Each of the cute, cuddly, bundles of fluff that often pile up together to snuggle, begins nipping at the others necks in a harmless but wild melee. At one point, as three come together, the first bites at the neck of the second, the seconds bites the third, and the third the first, in imitation of what they must have witnessed minutes before.
The mad parody ends when the victimized gosling, having surmounted an obstacle or two, arrives to reunite with its siblings and parents. Making up for lost time and expended energy, everyone immediately starts gobbling anything within reach that is edible.
Posted at: 03:42 PM | Add Comment
