Wild GEESE

30th March 2024

Photo Credit: Andrew_Howe (Getty Images Signature), CANVA

QUOTATION

Winter’s not gone yet if the wild geese fly that way.

Fathers that wear rags

Do make their children blind

But fathers that bear bags

Shall make their children kind.

FOOL: King Lear, Act 2, Scene 4

WILD GEESE (e.g. Graylag Goose: Anser anser)

Shakespeare uses wild Geese in several metaphors throughout his works. They characterise flocking behaviour or the decisions of crowds set in a certain direction. There are numerous references to hunting wild Geese and also to the ‘wild goose chase’. In the quotation above the wild Geese are the indicator of the season. Britain now as then is the winter home to many migrant Geese from the colder north who return back to their feeding grounds when the weather changes.

Britain currently has 7 species of wild Geese, with several subspecies, who live or overwinter here in Britain and 2 species introduced in the 17th and 18th century (ie after Shakespeare’s death) which have naturalised here. The Wildfowl and Wetland Trust have a handy guide to the different species (link below). Some like the Greylag Goose (Anser anser) also have a resident British population. Other overwintering Geese species you might see are: the Pink-footed Goose (Anser brachyrhynchus), Russian or Greenland White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons ssp albifrons or flavirostris), Taiga Bean Goose (Anser fabalis), Tundra Bean Goose (Anser rossicus), Brent Geese (light-fronted Branca bernical hrota and dark-fronted Branta bernicla bernicla), Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis), The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) was introduced in the 17th century, and the Egyptian Goose (Alopochen aegyptiaca).

More Information

Folger Shakespeare: Search Shakespeare’s Works

WWT (Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust): Geese found in UK Wetlands