Hunting Geese

[Feltwad]

Came across this hunting cartoon in an English 1860 newspaper , thought it rather a musing
Feltwad

 

[BrownBear]

Boy, that sure makes it clear that the cowboy sport of "yarning" greenhorns predates the cowboys and applies to visiting Continental sports! Reeled him in hook, line and sinker! :rotf:

Watched a lot of bald eagles fishing here in Alaska over the last 40 years, and bald eagles are a lot bigger and stronger than geese. And an eagle is likely to somersault head first into the water if it tries to lift a 5# salmon. And that's with a heck of a lot of momentum to help with the lift. The thought of 17 geese lifting a human 30' off the water confirms to me those geese were lined with horse feathers rather than down. :hatsoff:

Besides that I'd guess it would take the eel several hours to pass through each goose, so the guy would have been laying in his canoe a couple of days to get all 17 on a string.

Has anyone ever told you about jackelopes? They're very common down in the land of cowboy tall tales. :wink:

 

[Patocazador]

Watched a lot of bald eagles fishing here in Alaska over the last 40 years, and bald eagles are a lot bigger and stronger than geese.

I agree with your post in general but a bald eagle is not as heavy or as strong a flyer as a goose.

I found a bald eagle tangled in fishing line at the edge of a slough. I had to place a tarp over him to be able to free him without damage to either of us. I was amazed at how light he was .. not as heavy as a good-sized rabbit. I would guess his weight at 4-5 lbs. max.

I saw another swoop down and catch a cattle egret which weigh almost nothing. He could not gain altitude with it in his talons and had to do a "parachute" descent to the top of a tree.