Natural Selection

Baby Geese

Natural Selection

Tiny Guinea Fowl chick abandoned by your flock

Scratching in the dirt as you’ve seen your parents do

But without their guidance and protection

And only a few inches tall

You will not survive alone

Breakfast for the Magpie chicks?

Sadness

Heart-rending peeps follow me down the path

.

Egyptian goose with the badly broken leg

Each halting step agonisingly painful

Yet still you hobble near your chicks

Protecting them alongside your partner

Your commitment ensuring

The survival of your genes

Endurance

Raucous screeches follow me down the street

.

On our walks around the neighbourhood Little Monkey and I have come across many new-born chicks: Guinea Fowl and Egyptian Geese.

When I see an injured or abandoned bird it is hard not to interfere, but there is nothing to be done. The injured bird is still protecting its chicks and the abandoned chick will either survive on its own, or not. It had a near miss when LM spotted it before me!

I did search for the parent Guinea Fowl, with the intention of guiding the baby chick back to their safety, but they were nowhere to be seen. Guinea Fowl are notoriously bad parents.

It reminds me that life out there in the ‘wild’ is tough.

It really is the survival of the fittest.

 

24 thoughts on “Natural Selection”

  1. raynotbradbury

    the strongest will survive – by the law of the nature…but still, sometimes …even the smallest and weakest find the power to live 🙂
    love this post! 💕💕

    Liked by 1 person

  2. A Curious Introvert

    Reading your sad words and amazing poem I remembered all the times I have encountered similar scenes and wanted to scoop up the little ones or injured animals. One of the geese on the lake has an injured leg and somehow each year it manages to make it through the summer and return the next year. I loved the image of the baby geese and wish we could write happy endings for all the little ones we encounter.

    Liked by 1 person

  7. pensitivity101

    I know how you feel. We have an adult goose with a leg badly tangled with fishing wire. Even if we could help it, the damage to its leg would be dreadful once the circulation started going again. We have to leave well alone. It’s feeding and flying at the moment, but we don’t think it will survive the winter.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. pensitivity101

        It makes us cross that people are so careless and even if we were to call in the RSPCA, the chances are they would despatch it.
        We have a one footed dove and one legged blackbird visit our garden. How they lost their appendages is unknown, but they have adapted.

        Liked by 1 person

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