As I watch Finny continue his supremacy over the flock, I think back two years to when I was his “mother” and his flock.

Although I am happy that he knows he’s a goose, and a spectacular one at that, I miss the summer, fall, winter and part of the spring that we did so much together until he became integrated with the rest of the geese. I know that year was a truly special time that will likely never be repeated.

It all began when his mother, Sal-Gal, kicked him out of the nest because she believed he was defective. But first, before being tossed out, his brother, Shamus, walked all over him. The poor gosling appeared dead when I found him in the coop.

I brought him into the house, and, amazingly, he moved just a tiny bit. He was alive!

For the next few weeks he lived in a large, plastic box perched atop our dresser in the bedroom. Every time he saw me, he peeped and demanded food. I fed him fresh lettuce, celery and any other greens I could gather. As he grew, I moved him out to the garage and into a very large dog crate. For the next few months, that’s where he lived. Whenever I went outside, I brought him with me. We became very close friends, and he thought I was his mother.

Now, two years later, Finny still knows I am someone special and always comes to the pen’s gate when I go out back, and he always talks to me and reaches for my hair. He loves to chew on it, not eat it, but just play with it.

I remember when he as a tiny gosling following me everywhere. And when he didn’t move as fast as I had wanted to walk, I’d tuck him under my arm or place him in the wheelbarrow and take him with me.

For months, he sat on my lap, played with my hair or just sat there. He never pooped on me.

One time while we were in the front yard, I came into the house for something. I got hung up with whatever it was, and Finny was on his own outside.

Suddenly, I heard a plaintive holler. When I looked out the window, he was standing on the top step of the kitchen entrance, calling to me with all his might to return. I did.

Then, the December he was about 6 months old, he accompanied me down the woods to “help” cut down a Christmas tree. He then led me back to the house.

The most heart-wrenching sound I ever heard from him was when I returned home after a few days in New York. He lived in the garage then, and although my husband fed and watered him, along with the rest of the flock in the pen, he was pretty much alone.

When he heard me enter the house, and he knew my footsteps then as he still does, a haunting cry came out of his mouth as I went to him and hugged him. I felt so guilty for having left him alone.

Other times, as I weeded the flower garden, he tucked himself near my feet and stayed nearby as I pulled the weeds and grass. He peeped in satisfaction.

One time, as he sat on my lap while I sat next to the garden, our dog, Dusty, decided he wanted to see what was happening, poking his nose so I could pat it. Suddenly, Finny jumped up and chased the dog all over the yard! I suppose Finny thought he was protecting his mother.

As he grew into a gorgeous gray and white, fluffy gander, he often looked wistfully at the rest of the flock when I let them out to graze. He still stayed with me, sat on my lap and played with my hair, but he was beginning to realize that something wasn’t quite right.

Whenever he attempted to join the rest of the geese, they’d chase him away. They continued that for months.

He had to fight for his place in the flock, and that he did very well. Battles between Finny and his brother Shamus worried me. I was concerned that one or the other would get seriously hurt. But they didn’t. They were just creating a pecking order. Eventually, when Finny was able to stay in the pen with Shamus and the rest of the flock, Finny became the top gander.

He still is. But he also continues to greet me at the gate, comes over to play with my hair or eat out of my hand.

He’s become a wonderful parent to Plum Blossom and Blackberry.

Finny is a treasure, which I am so glad I had a chance to care for and get to know. He’s still my pal, but the rest of the flock now shares him.

I wonder what new adventures we’ll have as the latest crop of goslings grow up and Finny continues to rule over the flock. He is just so beautiful, he still knows his name and he continues to give me many, many smiles.

Eileen Adams has been raising geese for about 10 years. She may be reached at petsplants@midmaine.com.

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