Friendship without Boundaries

 

by Leanne

Sweet Pea goose arrived at the California Shelter in 2005 with nine other goose friends. Having together endured countless acts of violence at the hands of abusers in a public park, the group was very tight knit. Even after being introduced to our resident goose flock, Sweet Pea and her friends were never far apart from one another. After waking up and eating their breakfast, the group would head down to the ponds to spend the rest of their day swimming, napping and taking an occasional midday jaunt to join the pigs for a snack. At the end of the day they would head back up the hill to their hutches for dinner before settling in for the night.

A couple years after she came to Farm Sanctuary, however, Sweet Pea surprised us by striking up an unlikely friendship with two Pekin ducks, Boris and Harry. The three became inseparable, and Sweet Pea took leave of her goose group to spend her days swimming and lounging with the boys. Eventually she even changed her nighttime routine to conclude at the gate to the ducks’ hutch, where she would stand demanding we let her sleep in their company. She continued to visit with her old goose friends, but her society of choice was definitely Boris and Harry.

Unfortunately, Harry later developed an infection in his bone that inhibited his ability to walk. To allow him easier access to a pond, we moved him and Boris to one of our hospital areas, where our special needs ducks live, at the beginning of the year. Although sad to see her friends go, Sweet Pea took the change in stride and blended back in with her goose comrades. But her love for Pekin ducks didn’t stop there.

This past month several Pekins who we rescued as ducklings became old enough to move in with the main duck and goose flocks. For the first week we kept them in a smaller yard with a pond, so they could become more familiar with the area. Because the Pekins did not mingle with the resident flocks, Sweet Pea seemed to take no notice of them and went about her daily routine with her usual friends. But this all changed once the newcomers were given access to the rest of the yard and the larger ponds. The first day they were released to go exploring Sweet Pea was right there to greet them and join their flock. Her feeling of kinship toward Pekins was apparent as she and the ducks talked to each other and bonded. And of course that night she was standing at the gate to their hutch demanding to be let in.

At first the ducks were wary of heading down the hill to the big ponds, a space larger than they had ever known in their lives, but the next morning, after sleeping beside Sweet Pea, they trustingly followed her into their wide new world. The group hardly left the water the entire day.

Who knows why Sweet Pea has such a fondness for Pekin ducks, but her actions show that love and friendship have no boundaries.

Comments

[Becci]

What an unbelievably sweet story.

[Terhi]

Pretty amazing story! It's so much fun to read about the sanctuary residents and how they interact with each other. I hope I will be able to visit the farm some day!

[Melanie]

Great post:)...it always amazes me when animals strike up unconventional friendships. Perfect proof, I think, that they have so much more going on than they are given credit for. I bet Sweet Pea and her pals are awesome to watch:). Thank you guys for what you do.