An Odd Couple
BUFFALO, NY - It's a scene right out of a Disney movie, a mother goose has lost her lifelong mate and was left alone to create and tend to her nest. She spends the day sheltering her eggs from the cold spring air inside an empty cemetery urn chosen as home.
The loss of her male partner now makes her vulnerable to any would-be predators who choose to approach the nest. But, in an unlikely twist of fate, an adult deer has befriended the mother goose, taking over the role of protector.
This animal arrangement is highly unusual, since there's no known way that a deer and goose can communicate. Yet somehow the deer has come to understand the need of the nesting mother.
The deer now spends its days near the urn acting as guardian when needed. As passersby approach the area the deer stands and places itself between the person and the nesting goose. On one occasion the deer even took a protective stance taking on a barking dog near the area of the urn.
How this nature story ends is anyone's guess, and there's no telling if the deer and goose will part ways after the goslings hatch or whether this special friendship will continue beyond the nest.
Either way we'll keep a watchful eye on these two friends and let you know how it works out.
Video too
