The fight for Goose Island

After we built the cabin, we decided to add a pond near it for the horses and wildlife. We added an island to be fun and as they say "if you build it, they will come". They came. At this point, I am very thankful that the ranch is not in Louisiana, I mean no offense and kudos to anybody that has a ranch out there! I just would not be able to handle the alligators. This story would probably be very different if the ranch was there, but it is not, so back to the story. It only took two years for the rains to fill the pond and then we began to see the abundance of wildlife, but the island was a safe haven. The family was fascinated and had big dreams of building a tiny house, a fort or just a deck to hang out on. They ventured to the island by canoe, floats and even swam to the island a few times. The Oklahoma kids (in true country style) took their horses to the island, which was great because it needed a mow. We all enjoyed the island, but then... the geese came. A pair of Canadian Geese nested on the island and raised six babies. They come back every spring to what we now call Goose Island. Only one pair of geese will win the right to nest on the island, so several weeks of fighting takes place every spring. You wake up at dawn to the gentle sounds of geese screaming at each other. They chase each other across the water, on land and then take to the skies, shouting ugly goose words at each other the whole time. The drama is ridiculous, any amount of reasoning you try to do just gets ignored. They are in their own little world. We tried placing bets on who would win, but kept having a hard time telling them apart. So we just drink our coffee and watch the battles with about as much interest as the horses and ducks. It is just a routine now.