SMART GEESE

The notion that the Canada goose is a bird-brain has, in the figurative sense, cooked man a hunter's goose.

Sagacity, wariness and a remarkable memory make the magnificent Canada goose one of the most intelligent birds.

Hunters who have come to know, and appreciate, the Canada goose find that pursuing the big birds taxes their skill and ingenuity more than any other game bird. With a respective weight of anywhere from 7 to 14 pounds, and an impressive wing spread of five-and-a-half to six-and-a-half feet, the Canada goose should be an easy target.

Not so!

"Canada geese are smart and getting smarter," says Dennis Thornburg, Region 5 Wildlife Administrator at Benton, Ill. "They're wise birds. You've got to admire them."

Thornburg, a waterfowl biologist, says the "Goose Capital of the World" Southern Illinois is the perfect spot to study the honkers and their superbly honed survival skills.

Southern Illinois annually plays host to as many as 750,000 to 1 million wintering Mississippi Flyway Canada geese. Many of the birds are return visitors coming to warmer Southern Illinois to sit out the biting winter cold in their native Canadian habitat.

That they come to Southern Illinois is not by chance. The geese know where they are going, they know how to get there, and, most importantly, they know how to enjoy a winter vacation within eyesight of frustrated hunters.

"A lot of geese return here year after year," Thornburg says. The longer they've been coming to Southern Illinois, the better the odds that they'll live to see a whole flock of gosling grandkids.

"If a bird survives two or three trips from Canada to Southern Illinois, they're apt to live 10 to 15 years," Thornburg notes. "Geese traditionally return to the same wintering grounds every year. They're fairly quick to learn how to elude the hunter, find food and survive quite nicely."

It's not rare, Thornburg adds, to see geese live to be more than 20 years old. In some rare cases, geese have lived to be more than 40.

Wise, older geese have ruffled the feathers of many veteran hunters this season, which ends today. "What we've been looking at all season are veteran geese," says Chesley Willis, a well-known part of the goose-hunting scene in Alexander County. "They know their way around, they're difficult to decoy, and they certainly test the outdoorsman's wildlife hunting skills."

Goose harvest figures attest to that. To date, only 13,000 geese have found themselves destined for the dinner table. That compares with a 28,000-goose harvest during the 1991-92 season. The harvest has been so disappointing, in fact, that hunting hours were extended the final three days of the season in efforts to outsmart the birds.

How do you measure "Goose IQ?"

For starters, consider how geese make the two-day, 500- to 700-mile trip from the northlands to Southern Illinois, a distance great enough to give even the most seasoned traveler a severe case of jet lag.

Flying in the familiar "V" formation, geese apply a sound aerodynamic concept.

"The lead bird has the tough chore of breaking up the air," Thornburg explains. "The birds following the leader move with much less effort. Interestingly, only the stronger geese take their turns at being the leader."

Once airborne, the geese stop only when necessary to rest, or feed, and then only in such places as their experienced leaders know to be safe.

During long flights, geese may chug along at a speed of about 40 miles per hour. But, if they're in a hurry, they can churn that speed up to a maximum of 60 miles per hour. Like an airplane in a holding pattern, geese slow their speed when nearing their destination, says Thornburg. Cruising along at a leisurely 25 to 30 miles per hour, the honkers scout for a place to land.

Another sign of the intelligence of the Canada geese is their sentinel system. When feeding on land, or water, the flocks are well guarded by sentinels. Two or more long black necks are always stretched upon the lookout for approaching danger. At a warning from the sentry, every head is immediately raised, and, if deemed necessary, the flock takes wing.

"Geese learn very quickly what to fear," said Thornburg. "They have an uncanny knack of knowing the difference in friend and foe." A deer breaking a twig as it walks causes no alarm, but the cracking of a twig by an approaching hunter will startle them to flight.

The intelligence of the goose is also respected among other waterfowl. Ducks are particularly aware of their smarter kin. Many duck hunters mix several geese decoys with duck decoys. The presence of the geese decoys apparently gives incoming ducks more confidence all is well.

Goose hunters who set up blinds near wildlife refuges will attest to the fact that while a goose doesn't wear a Timex, he certainly knows the time of day. Returning geese remember, and it doesn't take but a few rounds of buckshot for new geese to learn that hunting begins at sunrise and ends promptly at 3 p.m.

Geese at Horseshoe Lake have been observed walking more than a quarter of a mile to feed, even though the distance could have been covered more quickly and easily by flying ... had it only been after 3 p.m.

If you want to get a closer look at the Canada goose, now is the time to visit the Horseshoe Lake Wildlife Area near Olive Branch, the Union County Refuge near Ware or the Crab Orchard Refuge in the Carbondale-Marion area.

Thornburg says 100,000 of the big birds have already started the trip home, and more are staging in preparation for the journey back north.

But, plenty of geese more than 400,000 during the most recent count last week are still around. Spending an afternoon admiring the wily honkers isn't a wild goose chase it's a fascinating look at waterfowl lifestyle.