LULUTU /LUTU /LOO NOVEMBER 2005

CHAPTER 1

As from 29^th November we have now a new baby in our family. As you will know from the end of Lulu returns 2005, this little bundle must have hurt its leg when it jumped out of the nest. I rescued it from Lulu and am rather glad that I did because Lulutu has quite a limp still but hopefully he/she will get better. There is nothing wrong with the vocals of this baby which is a good sign.

I brought (from now on I will say “Her” to make it easier on me. I have a feeling that she is a “He” because she is quite big but we will have to wait and see.) Lulutu home and because I was not prepared for a

new addition to our family I had to search for a suitable new home for her. I used an old banana box at first but then found a big box I had kept from a TV I had bought a while ago. This is ideal and should be good enough for her as she grows.

I do have a different problem now in that I have two cats that I am going to have to watch until I
can be sure they will not eat her. They have been very inquisitive about this new “thing” that makes so much
noise so I will keep her locked up until she has grown a lot more.

As with Lulu, Shorty has already adopted her so that is a step I do not have to worry about. Sjimbra is not going to be a problem either because he remembers Lulu too. Even though he is a German Shepherd (cross Malamute)
he is incredibly intelligent and as gentle as a lamb (even though he has accidentally almost killed a lamb but that is another story).

So far Lulutu has been out of her box once, just to let her get an idea about her new surroundings, to meet Shorty in person and to get to know me a little better.

CHAPTER 2

Wednesday and as I had expected, it was a rather short night for me. At 2am Lulutu woke up and of course everybody had to wake up with her. I took her out of her box and put her on the bed with me. She was quite happy to lie under my chin and sit there chatting to herself. Eventually she slept with Shorty a bit but then came and lay with me again. It got a little chilly and she eventually got under the blanket where she was quite happy. She was still limping but hopefully she will be OK within a couple of days..

While I was lying there I was trying to remember what Lulu was like and how she behaved. I do remember that she was very noisy and used to chat away to herself as well. Every so often you just have to acknowledge her and then she was happy. Lulutu has become attached to us a little quicker than Lulu did because I think Lulu was more than a day old when she was found and so therefore a woman of the world already. I hope that Lulutu becomes attached to us as much as Lulu did.

I also tried to work out why I never saw as much of Lulus hubby while she was sitting on the nest and can only guess that it was because the one Peacock was standing guard. He used to sleep in a tree not far from Lulu’s nest at a height where I am sure he could see inside her nest. I am sure he was standing guard because since Lulu left he has not been there again. It is really too early to tell but I will keep a check on where he sleeps from now on because I think he will probably keep a watch over his ladies who should be sitting on eggs by now. That is also possibly why the other geese did not try to remove her from the nest the way they did last year.

I also came to realize that her nest (the Crows nest actually) must have been a lot deeper inside than it actually looked which is why I had a hard time seeing her on it.

Back to this morning! I had put Lulutu back in her bed and tried to get some sleep but it did not work. A short while later I heard a small crash and some hurried scrambling. It was Cleo, my one cat who must have been spying on Lulutu and fell into her box. She got such a fright that she flew out at about the same speed that she went in. I then took Lulutu out again just in case she was in shock (she was not). This time she slept with Shorty for a while and was introduced to Tabs, my other cat. He came to investigate what the commotion was about. He is very unsure about this noisy little beast but has a nature like Shorty so I am not too worried about him. Cleo, my little female, white with patches of colour, is the one to watch because she is a real little killer, tree climber, you name it.

I am not sure what Lulutu is eating although I do have some Pro Nutro mixed with water as well as some milk soaked bread and a water dish for her. Within a day or two she will be big enough to come outside with me. I look forward to then. This is when she will really start growing with a vengeance. It took 4 months for Lulu to grow up and fly away so this is going to be a hectic time. I just hope I get some nice pics when I introduce her to where I used to take Lulu to swim on the farm. One thing I have now which I only bought when Lulu was already half grown is a video camera. We should be having fun in that direction soon as well.

CHAPTER 3

Thursday 1^st December and I can already notice a change in her size. This morning I made a sort of mash with growing pellets but so far she has not seemed to take a liking to it. She does seem to like the Pro Nutro and some grass I put in her box. Ever since I put my shirt in there with her she has been very contented. She is eating something because now there are little stools in her box.

I had forgotten how fast these little goslings grow. As soon as her leg is a little better I want to take her outside for a little sun. She will automatically know what to eat. This I learnt from Lulu. She was a wonderful teacher to me.

This morning at around four o clock I put her with Shorty and myself on the bed. This time Katra came to have a squizz at our new arrival and even though she was very wary she did not show any animosity
at all. She was like that when she saw her first calf too. She kept her distance and just stared at this huge, strange brute that had been introduced into her world, but now she takes no notice at all of them. Hopefully she and Tabs will accept Lulutu as just another member of our family, but until then will keep them apart from each other while I am not here.

This morning, as is her custom, she snuggled against my hair or under my chin, muttering away to herself. This is really nice because you can always tell how they are feeling by the noises they make. Last night Shorty accidentally sat on her. She did not make any sound at all. I am finding that he is being a little rough with her, even when I tell him to be careful, because of her leg. He will be ever so gentle with her and
then seem to forget how small she is. He will be sitting on the bed with her cuddled in his fur, get distracted
by something outside, get up and just leave her stranded. Well, I guess he is not really a mother now is he?? Still, he just wants to have her with him and keeps on asking me to let her out of her box.

I let her out for about an hour or two in the evenings so she can get around and see a little more of the huge world she has been born into.

I wonder how the rest of Lulus brood are doing? I hope they all made it to wherever she was taking them!!

CHAPTER 4

Friday 2^nd December.

Nothing much to say regarding today although I did see Lulu this morning. I was on my way down from the dairy and she flew over the vicinity of the nest close to where I picked up Lulutu (I have changed his/her name to Lulutu now, Loo for short) with her usual good morning “shout.” I found it a little strange that her husband was not with her but then realized that he was most probably baby sitting his new family. I wonder whether Lulu flew over the spot where I picked up her little cripple because she remembers where she was last seen? She did fly over the spot quite low but she was going quite fast and did not slow down, land or anything.

In the evening I took Lulutu out for her evening stroll around the bed and a little on the floor. She really enjoyed this and left little wet “Loos” all over the place. I just wish her leg would improve.

CHAPTER 5

Saturday 3^rd December

It is the first day where I have not had to work so I am able to spend more time with this “tiny tot.” I have my girl friend with me here and Lulutu spent a lot of time exploring the new “person” in her midst. A lot of exploring was done around her. I think she liked the new smells because she was quite happy with the new stranger spending quite a while exploring her hair and face.

I had been wondering how Loo would take to water because a couple of times I have found her ankle deep in her water dish. We have been having quite a bit of rain lately and there are a couple of puddles that I thought were her size. Circumstances prevailed where I decided to take her outdoors for her first test run. She was not too keen on the puddle but as soon as she was out of the water and had gotten used to her surroundings she was very happy testing the new tasty bits she was finding. Lulu seemed to know what she
could eat straight away but Loo seems to just test everything. It might be because Lulu was a little older than Loo when I took her out for the first time so her instincts were a little more mature. I forget that Loo is only a few days old still. I am so looking forward to our first trip to the stream. This time I have a video camera but it is rather difficult trying to get good still photos and good movie at the same time.

All the animals, except Katra and the male Peacocks came to say their hellos. I let the one Peahen get very close in the hope that Loo might have found a new friend but the lady P just pecked her. I am not sure whether it was from animosity, whether she was jealous or just curious but she luckily she only gave Loo a fright. It will hopefully be a little different when Loo is a little bigger. I still worry that Loo is not as mobile as she could be. She did seem to tire from having to hobble around. If you could hear the noise she has been making since I put her back in her box you would not think she had had any excitement at all. Seeing as Tabs came to say “Hi” as well as the other Peahens (who I made keep their distance just in case a war broke out). She sounds like a child who has just had its favorite toy taken away.) This should be a rather interesting day.

CHAPTER 6

Sunday 4^th December

Nothing to add to yesterdays’ news, other than I saw Lulu again in the afternoon. She was in a camp where the dairy cows were grazing. She flew away when I got too close so I am not sure whether she was hiding her babies in a wet spot there. When we get rain there is a spring that rises there. There is some rather thick reed type of grass there where they can hide.

This morning when I went to fetch the cows I had a look there but could not see anything. I did not try too hard cos I did not want to disturb them if they were indeed hiding there.

I decided to leave Loo in her box for most of the day so that her leg could get a chance to do a little healing. I let her out in the afternoon for a while to give her a bit of exercise and it does seem as if the rest is helping her because you could see a noticeable difference in the way she was walking. She did the usual checking of everything that she came across and at times was actually moving quite fast. I am now quite confident that she will eventually be OK.

She does seem to enjoy the Pro Nutro I give her and I see she is now testing the pullet grower pellets I “soggied” up for her.

At the moment she is sitting in her box chatting away to herself. Probably pecking at something. I have noticed that she has a different character to Lulu because she is much more playful. Lulu was a “lady” from day one and really did not play too much. Loo, on the other hand will chase your fingers if you wiggle them. I now use this “finger wiggle” to call her.

She probably thinks they are fat worms or something and will peck at them as if trying to remove them from your hand. All she does is pull your skin a little though. In a week or twos time it will be a different story. She will be twice the size and also twice as strong. Shorty seems to be a little wary of her and sometimes tries to get away when she tries to cuddle in his fur.

There could be more than one reason for this. I have chastised him a couple of times, asking him to be careful because of her foot and I think he is a little worried about hurting her. (he is very sensitive). His fur is also much shorter because a couple of weeks ago I got one of the guys on the farm to hold him for me while I gave him a really good haircut. OR, he knows that Loo is a boy and is worried of being classed as a poefta by his friends. Another reason is that Lulu might have been a bit older when she came into our lives so she was bigger and stronger already. I have not had a look at photos from that time yet though.

CHAPTER 7

Tuesday 6^th December. Not much to add from the last two days. It is just growing, exploring and talking non stop time now. I let Loo out of her box for longer periods so that she can get some exercise and to see how her leg is. It does seem to be improving little by little every day. She can now do the odd sprint if she gets excited. Her sore leg just seems to be at a little different angle than the other one so it might be that she broke it when her parachute did not open at “baling out” of the nest time..

It has also become “tweezer” time. This is where I have to go behind her picking up the little “number twos” that she leaves behind. They are still small enough to be picked up by tweezers but within a couple of weeks I will need a spade to do the same thing.

I also will need to take her to the stream this weekend because this afternoon as soon as I put clean water in her box she went paddling.

I also had a look at some photos of Lulu and how big she was when I first took her to the stream and she was about the same size as Loo is now. Loo might even be a little bigger than Lulu was. This is one of the reasons I think she might be a “He.”

CHAPTER 8

It is Sunday 11^th December and the news is not really wonderful. It now seems as if Loo might be a little deformed in her leg. I am aware how strong nature is and hopefully she will survive. I have decided to keep her in her box for longer periods just in case too much “time out” is not good for her. Her one leg seems to have gotten worse even though it does not seem to worry her “mentally.” The rest of her works normally. She is just as vocal as Lulu was and many of her mannerisms are the same. Today, because it was hot enough to go for a swim in the dam on the farm I decided to take her out of her box and give her the run of the room while I was away. I closed the door to keep out any unwelcome visitors and when I returned she was asleep on a rag next to my bed.

I am holding thumbs that she survives even though she might have to live near the house. It just worries me a little as to how well she will be able to handle landing when she learns how to fly. In the beginning, even Lulu had a limp after a couple of crash landings. Still, we have a long way to go before then. I think I will leave her in the room, out of her box during the day from now on in the hope that the exercise will strengthen her legs. I suppose I have to harden myself to the fact that she might not survive but will try to give her all the chances she needs.

She is eating more and more food now and as soon as she is strong enough I will take her outdoors for longer and longer periods. At the moment I just take her out for 5 or so minutes at a time so that she can get some sun which I think is rather important for her.

I wonder what lesson she has come into my life to teach me?

CHAPTER 9

16thDecember and as I had planned, I decided to take Loo to the stream for the first time. If she does not survive I want her to at least know what it is like to be the beautiful animal that she can be. I had gone for a little photo session at the spot where I wanted to take her earlier in the morning (I am fascinated by the splashes different shaped objects make as they strike the water and spend some of my spare time photographing them at this spot) and had gone for my early swim on the dam on the farm. The weather was really lovely and calm so I decided to take her for her first experience.

I had forgotten how I transported Lulu to the stream for her first experience but think I just let her sit on the seat next to me. Loo, because of her legs I had to rethink. I eventually got an old piece of blanket and put it in an old milk crate I had lying around so I could transport her in more or less comfort. I was hoping to have somebody help me take still photos of her because this year I have the video camera to try and get records with as well and it is rather difficult getting decent shots with them both at the same time.

We got to the stream eventually, with a lot of chatter from Loo on the way there. I think she has a hard time balancing on her legs and of course she has never experienced the truck before. She will get used to it I am sure. Actually, on the way home she was already handling it much better.

At the stream I took her and her box/crate out and put them next to the water. I then did more or less what I did with her mother. I put her near the water and let her explore on her own. There was an eagle roaming the skies when we got there and it served to remind me that Loo would not have been able to make it this far on her own. It really hurts to think that she would probably have been in the stomach of one of those predators by now.

She did have a little bit of a hard time because everything seemed to hamper her movements. Seeing as she cannot really walk in a straight line she kept on getting “obstacalised” by the smallest things. It was a little better when she was in the open.

I was taking pics and video of her when I could, when the batteries in my still camera went flat. I went to the truck to get more and then realized how much my vocal communication with her meant because when I went away she complained bitterly and while I was putting the batteries in she decided to swim across her little “lake.” It is only a couple of meters from one side to the other so it is not far but in her condition I was not sure how she would swim. The only reason she did swim was to get to where I was which was wonderful to see. But, like a parent who did not see his childs’ first step I was not able to get it on camera or video. Murphys’ Law states. “You turn back on crawling child, child shall get up and walk.”

A couple of minutes before, I had been enticing her to enter the water by putting my feet in and splashing a little. This is what got her Mom swimming as well. I guess they take it as a sign that it is safe to go in at that time. She did not swim then but went in so that she could stand and this is when her instinct stepped in. She started digging in the mud at the edge of her “lake“ like a real pro. She was fine as long as I was with her and had her say as soon as she thought she was being left behind. She did do a little swim again after that but this time I was only able to get a little video footage of it. I think she will be swimming quite a bit from now on. Even though she is not fast in the water she does seem to do OK. The main thing is that she enjoyed herself.

I eventually ran out of space on my memory sticks of the still camera and because it was hot, decided to put her in her crate again and went for a quick swim in the dam to cool down again. As I write this she is in her “home” box, quite content. I think she will be sleeping rather well tonight which means I will be too. It has become a regular thing that she will wake me up at around midnight because she wants attention. Boy, isn’t she just like a small child??

CHAPTER 10

Something rather strange happened last night. I am sharing my house with a lady I love dearly but last
night she got it into her head that she wanted to listen to some romantic music. I am not that way inclined so said she could listen to it while I went to bath. I have no idea what happened but she turned the volume up loud that it was loud in the bathroom and when I eventually got to the lounge where she was I had to ask her to turn it down. A little scuffle ensued and I had to forcibly turn the volume down myself.

I was lying in bed this morning thinking about what had happened and realized that Lulutu is just so great. Her box is in the lounge right between the speakers. Now, here is a poor little animal that relies on its senses for its protection and I just hope that nothing has happened to dull those senses now.

On my way to the dairy this morning I realized that it was full moon so I guess will have to put the incident down to that. I am aware that some people are affected by this in different ways but I am not used to it because I don’t think I am affected by it at all. Still, I will keep an eye on the moon phases from now on so that hopefully I am not caught unawares next time.

The other bad news is that Loos one leg seems to be worse today than it was yesterday. I just hope that taking her to the stream yesterday was not too soon and detrimental to her.

CHAPTER 11

Same day as chapter 10. Saturday 17^th December 2005. I took Loo for a swim and she does not seem to be too worse the wear after last nights ear blasting. Today she was even more at home in the water and spent most of her time swimming and checking the mud on the edges. I did see her catch a tadpole or two and she ate a horse fly that I had swatted. Her legs definitely work much better in the water than on land so I am now hoping that it will be therapeutic for her. This will now be a daily regimen if the weather allows.

This is a PS because when I was feeding the animals this afternoon she decided to come into the kitchen. I had had her with me in my bedroom and had left her on her own for a while. Now, I cannot leave her on her own for too long when she is out of her box because she shouts so that everybody can hear her. Today she decided to walk into the kitchen. The cats got a fright and disappeared for a while, as did Sjimbra. The only one who did not run away was Shorty who is familiar with her. Hopefully the swimming is starting to help strengthen her legs. It was a really nice surprise to see her walking that far. Maybe there is still hope for her.

CHAPTER 12

Sunday 18^th December and not really much to add to yesterdays news. The little news is good though. Loo is definitely getting stronger and enjoying the water more than she did yesterday. Today she did her first underwater dive. So many of the things she is doing are the same as Lulu used to do. She also seems to recognize my feet in the water as a safe haven when she is swimming. Today she was not as paranoid as yesterday and even went around on her own while I lay on a rock to get some sun. It was a lot cooler today than yesterday but it did not seem to worry her. She swam for much longer, but, like Lulu used to do, as soon as she had had a swim she would stand on the side of the water and preen herself in the sun.

Her legs are now strong enough that she is able to get out of the water on her own without too much of a problem and she is now really starting to grow. She is a couple of weeks old but I think that being in an environment she understands instead of her box helps her get the kind of food she would get if she was with her family in the wild.

Her legs are now also strong enough that on the way home she tried to jump out of her crate.

The next thing I am going to try with her that I did not with Lulu is to take her swimming in the dam where I go swimming when it gets too hot. This is going to be an interesting episode in both our lives because I am not sure whether I will be able to catch her again. I remember Lulu became harder and harder to catch as she grew but, Lulutu, being the way she is, might be a little different.

CHAPTER 13

Friday 23^rd December and even though most of the news is bad, I am once again learning to have a new respect for nature. I said the same thing when I wrote about Lulu but Lulutu is even teaching me more.

On Sunday last Loo got caught up in a shirt/piece of cloth I have in her box and I had to cut the material to get it off her. Now, unfortunately it wrapped around her bad leg. She was not Ok because unfortunately she then seemed to have a hard time with this one and would not use it. Before, when she walked she would walk sideways because of this leg. She used to keep on stepping on it with the other one.

I left her for the week in her box and sometimes in the lounge/bedroom during the day while I was at work, in the hope that she would improve but noticed no change Yesterday, I decided to take her for a swim after work because the weather was nice and I hoped that swimming might be therapeutic for her. Because she was not strong enough to get into the water on her own I put her in by hand. The first thing she did was dive. Even with only 1.5 engines she had no trouble swimming underwater. I did not let her swim for too long just in case I was doing the wrong thing and as soon as she tried to get out of the water I put her in her crate and brought her home after I had gone for a swim in the big dam on the farm.

Today, being an early off day at work due to Xmas and the weather being great again I decided to
take her to the stream again. I did the same thing as yesterday and the result was the same. She went for a dive and then proceeded to sift through the mud on the sides of the banks. Today was an improvement on yesterday because she now seems to be learning to balance on one leg. The other one she only uses a little when paddling. Today she was strong enough to get out of the water on her own and only lost her balance once or twice. She swam for longer today than yesterday and like yesterday I put her in her crate, drove to the dam where I swim and left her while I went in to cool down. I usually swim across to the far corner of the dam and back but today did not have the energy so just really dived in, cooled down and got out again. When I went to the truck, Loo was trying to jump out of her house and was almost making it. (on one leg too!!!). I had mentioned earlier that I wanted to take her swimming with me in the dam so today, because she seemed to have an interest in swimming some more, I took her out of her crate and put her in the water. She did not seem too worried other than the dam being enormous compared to where I usually take her. I then decided to get in the water with her and that is where the magic started. I went deep enough so that just my head was sticking out of the water and guess what?? She swam up to me and kissed me on the nose. She then just swam around me as if I was her mother. What a pity I could not get photos of this because I never thought in a month of Sundays that she would have behaved like that. Wherever I went she followed me and I eventually put out my hand where she sat, half submerged, and proceeded to preen herself. She seemed to like it best when I put my hand in the crook of my neck, just sitting there, chatting to herself and probably to me, wondering why I did not understand what she was saying and returning the compliment. I think the crook of the neck thing stems back to when she was only a day or two old when I would let her sit there when I took her out of her box in the mornings or evenings, and would “talk” to her.

It now seems as if another stage has been reached in my learning and her growing. Do we have a little survivor here? I dearly hope so!!

This, I guess, is a kind of PS to what I said earlier because I took Loo for an afternoon swim, once again to the dam to show a very close girlfriend of mine how she was earlier, hoping that she could see a little of the bond that is building between Loo and myself. Unfortunately the wind had got up, which is not unusual for us here, and the waves on the dam were about an inch or more big which I felt was maybe a little too

much for her in her condition. Anyway, I took her in with me while my girlfriend went swimming and tried to act as a wind-break for her. She actually enjoyed herself more this time and was not as wary about the size of her surroundings any more. I think that as soon as she is strong enough we will be swimming further and further from the bank.

CHAPTER 14

December 26^th 2005 and still Loo gets better and stronger with her one leg. She is now becoming quite adept at jumping with it and also swims in a straight line with her one leg doing nearly all the work. She is now even able to get out of the water on one leg as well and this morning even jumped up onto my bed. (it is a futon so is quite close to the ground). But, I get ahead of myself.

Yesterday I did not take her swimming because the weather was too miserable but on the 24^th I did get a chance during the day. She was not as afraid as the day before and did not stay around me the whole time. Only when I pretended to swim away did she get agitated. This day she actually hitched a ride on my back while I slowly swam around.

Today, the weather was rather nice in the morning and my girlfriend who is rather busy most of the time said she had time to try and get a couple of pics of Loo in the dam with me. I showed her the basics of my camera and away we went. Now, when I take Loo to the dam I have to cover her crate because she keeps on trying to jump out. Now that she only has one leg we have to take good care of it.

She always seems to know where we are going as we near the stream, and now the dam, because she stops complaining. How she knows I have yet to find out but it might be just instinct. This morning she was even braver in the dam and was on her way to explore amongst the reeds until she realized I was not following and then changed her mind. She is now able to get out of the water unassisted and is even getting rather good at turning around with the one leg. Once again she spent even less time around me than she did the time before. I also swam a little further away from the bank than I did before and this is when she followed me and swam around my head and shoulders. It is going to be rather interesting to see how things develop as she grows and what happens when she is able to fly.

So far so good.

CHAPTER 15

Tuesday 27^th December and due to the fact that there were no staff on my section of the farm, I had a chance to get my work done quickly and to take Loo for a swim in the big dam again. It was warm and there
was no wind so ideal for her training. I decided to leave her on the edge of the bank this time, and walk into the water to see whether she would follow me or not. As soon as I walked in she jumped in after me and to show how happy she was she dived straight away. The water was nice and clean so I could actually see how deep she went. I am still not sure how she gets it right with only having the strength from one leg. But, with her everyday is a new day and a new lesson. We swam around for a bit and then I took her to the stream again where she could do some “mud slinging.”

In the afternoon my girlfriend decided to come for a swim with Loo and myself so I
thought it would be a great opportunity to see whether Loo would follow her into the water as well. It was wonderful to see her accepting a stranger as a mother/safety figure as well. She swam further into the dam than she has before and was actually following her new friend as she swam away. I then stayed with Loo while our friend swam across the dam and back. Hopefully, soon it will be the three of us swimming there and back together. I had Loo hitch a ride with me a couple of times this afternoon, on my tummy as well as my back. I think she must think I am some kind of island or whale or something because she stood there as if she was the captain giving directions on where to go. I did find that the claws on her feet are extremely sharp, and felt like little needles in my back.

It was a little breezy this afternoon and the water was a little bumpy but it did not seem to worry her too much. She is now becoming more and more confident when it comes to her ability as a swimmer and she no longer fears the dam as she did a couple of days ago.

CHAPTER 16

Thursday and the weather has done a 360 degree on us. Yesterday was lovely and warm and today we are wet and cold again. It was too cold to take Loo for a swim so at lunchtime I decided to give her some exercise in the garden because it had warmed up a little. Enough to let her get out of her box anyway.

I was hoping I could introduce her to Tags, a lamb I was asked to rear because her mother had to be put down due to her udder collapsing. Now, as I do with my animals, I try and get them all running free in the garden until it is time for them to be returned to their families. Loo had not been out for more than a couple of minutes when Tags came along to investigate. Loo was not sure what to do so stood her ground and opened her little wigs and hissed at her. This is exactly what her father did to me when I rescued her. I never saw Lulu do it so I am now wondering whether she is not a “he.” Personally though, I think that the show was her way of protecting herself. She then did a little eating of the kikuyu and whenever Tags came too close she would go to Shorty for protection. It got so that Shorty actually snapped at Tags who then came and sat with me, her nose all out of joint.

Just before I decided to bring her in we were visited by one of the Peahens, which I chased away because I did not want a repeat of the time I let them meet. Cleokatra also came to have a “look see” and I do not trust her. Then I decided it would be wise to pull the plug on the days festivities and bring Loo back inside where she is smelly but safe.

CHAPTER 17

Yesterday, 30^th December was quite a nice afternoon for all of us. It was very windy in the afternoon but otherwise it was nice and warm so I decided to take the whole family, other than Tags for a swim. My girlfriend had tried to take “Loo pics” a day or so before but she was not too familiar with the camera so I decided to give her another chance. It was so windy on the dam that the waves were over an inch tall and the swells even bigger. Lulutu was a little braver the last time we went to the dam and this time was no
exception, even if the waves hit her in the face every so often.. She was quite happy as long as she had
somebody swimming with her. I swam with her while my photographer went for a swim after taking some photos (and much better pics they were too) of Loo with me in the water and I stayed with Loo while she went for a swim across the dam. I then left Loo with her while I went for my swim. Loo was quite happy staying with her friend. She then went for a short swim with me but she was having a tough time swimming into the wind and eventually I had to rescue her in the reeds. But, the main thing is that she is more and more confident every day and will go exploring on her own now.

CHAPTER 18

This morning, 31^st December and because the weather was nice and warm I decided to let Loo have a short “hop” in the garden while I took her box and cleaned it out. It now gets rather damp because she throws water all over the place. If only I could trust my cats I would leave her outside unattended. Katra I have to watch all of the time because I am pretty sure that she thinks Loo is some kind of meal. (She has been pecked quite badly on her head by what I can only think are the Peahens because she has possibly discovered where they are nesting). The Peacocks are not afraid of her and they will just peck her to chase her away. She
should have learnt when she was younger because the same thing happened then, but it seems as if she has forgotten.

I left her outdoors to play for a while with most of the other animals and then at around ten o clock I had to get out of my house for a while so decided to take the dogs and Loo for a swim at the dam. There was no wind at all so the water was very calm. I now just dive into the water to get wet all of a sudden, which is easier than “sneaking” in and Loo jumps in when the “tsunami” I have caused has subsided. I decided to see how far we could swim across the dam before needing to turn back so I slowly swam with her clinging to my back, every so often she jumped off to play in the water. We got about a third of the way across before I decided to turn around. I then saw what she had been doing in the water. A lot of midges had fallen in and she was eating them. I then let her go in front of me while I slowly swam behind while she had her little meal.

Our fun was cut short by a small storm that decided to leave a little moisture behind it. If the weather clears later I will take her for another swim after dairy.

CHAPTER 19

1^st and 2^nd January 2006. The weather was quite nice again on these days so Loo went for longer swims on the dam with me. As usual, it gets windy in the afternoon and today we had a storm, then a break when we went swimming as a family, then it stormed again. This morning it was very calm and hot so I took her for an early swim. There was some discord at home so I just went with Loo and the dogs. I swam almost to the middle of the dam with her even tho she cheated and rode on my back most of the way. It was lovely to see that it did not bother her too much and as soon as I turned around and headed back she knew where she was going and some of the way swam in front of me. I went home quickly to fetch a brushcutter so I could cut the grass close to where we jump in the dam, then took her for another swim, this time even further out, so she really had a good morning. We did not swim for too long in the afternoon due to the fact that another storm came through and it started to thunder and rain again.

Yesterday after coming back from the swim in the morning I decided it was time that Loo had a chance in an outside room. There is a room close to my room, on the verandah where I put her mother when she got this big and now Loo is in it. She has not complained at all regarding the conditions there probably because she now has more space to move.

Two new things have happened with our little friend this weekend. She is now starting to flex her wings (even standing up in the dam once to flap). They are only an inch or so long now but she is going to need them to help her balance soon. I was looking through her baby feathers this morning and noticed that her new feathers are about to show themselves. They are her golden, “Egyptian Goose” colour.

CHAPTER 20

It is the 7^th January and not much to add. This morning I am a little worried about Loo and her leg.
She does seem to be having a little problem moving around but I also think I know the reason why. She is growing so fast that she might be having a hard time adapting to her rapid weight gains now. She has started losing her baby feathers and already her tail and a couple of her new wing feathers are visible. Just in this past week she has gone from baby feathers to a rather ragged look as her down is leaving and being replaced by new “big bird” feathers.

I have only taken her to the dam twice this week since the holiday, due to poor weather. We have had quite a lot of rain this week and our storms appear almost always in the afternoon.. The times we have gone, my girlfriend, after a little coaching, has been experimenting with the video camera so there are no new still camera pics. I took Loo almost to the middle of the dam with me on Thursday but realized that she was having a hard time swimming so turned around and headed back. That was when I saw that she was sinking (not that she noticed it) and by the time we got to shore most of her body was under water. I have to admit that I was not aware that her feathers could become water logged.

Yesterday was quite nice because, as usual, she hitched a ride but today she sat on my stomach like a ships captain giving directions. I was laying on my back in the water and she sat on my chest. After the swim in the big dam I decided to take her to the stream where she could do a little “window shopping” on the edges where she likes to dig in the mud. Unfortunately, we did not stay very long because due to all the rain we have had the stream was too high and she could not paddle against the current. I had to rescue her before she got washed downstream where we would have had a VERY hard time rescuing her.

I cannot say that I am not worried about her and her leg because I am. I just hope that nature surprises me once again and that she will adapt to her new weight in time. I think that when she can fly it will be a different story because her wings will act as her “balances.”

CHAPTER 21

Tuesday 10^th and we have not been to the dam since Saturday due to lousy weather again. It means that I only see Loo in the mornings when I check up on her and to feed her, and in the evenings when I say good night to her. It is still hard for me to believe how fast she is growing and how quickly her new feathers are growing.

Today the weather was almost normal again so I took her for a swim in the dam after work. This time when I put her on the edge of the dam she dived in before I did. This is the first time because I usually dive in and then she dives in after me. She was so excited after I dived in that she almost walked on the water, her little wings flapping away madly. (in the days from Saturday to today her wings must have grown almost 10mm). As usual, she hitched a ride on my back and when I turned around to come back again she swam in front. I then decided to see what would happen if I stopped swimming and just let her swim away without my being with her. She did not mind until she realized that I was not with her and then came racing back to see what had happened to me. It seems as if she is ore reliant on me/us than I had at first thought.

One thing that surprised me was that when we had arrived back at our “jumping in” spot she turned around and swam out again. It had become a little windy but she swam through the little waves like a real pro. If things carry on like this I can see some rather interesting days in the future.

CHAPTER 22

12^th January and this will be a rather short chapter because not much new has happened. We have had nice weather for two days in a row now so Loo has been spoilt in having afternoon swims on both of them. There has been no real change other than how fast she is growing. As usual in the dam she goes “piggy back riding” with me. Holding onto my hair when I swim (breaststroke) as if she has this kind of dam monster under her control and she is trying to make it go faster. I would love to have eyes in the back of my head to see what she is doing back there.

Her new feathers are coming so fast that now when she swims her new little tail feathers stick up out of the water as she goes. Her wings have grown amazingly just in two days. I reckon they must have grown
over 2cm longer in the last two days. She is now starting to use them a little for balance and might be using them to swim under water too. She has been doing a lot of diving lately but I cannot be sure that she is able to use them to swim with. Come to think about it I do not think she will be using them. The only thing is that now she is going deep enough that you cannot be sure where she is going to come up again.

Today, for the first time she did not want to get out of the water. We swam for longer than ever before and I had to pretend we were leaving before she decided it as time to get out. This is the beginning of adolescence for her and it is going to be harder and harder to get her to want to come home again.

A memory has just come to me regarding Lulu. She had a white tail feather when she was getting her real feathers and I could never figure out what it signified. I wonder whether Loo will get it as well? At one time I thought it might designate her sex. She turned out to be a lady so I wonder whether it will mean that Loo is a guy if he/she does not get the white feather??

CHAPTER 23

The day after yesterday and because it was payday, which meant I was off a little earlier than usual, and due to the fact that it was very hot, I took Loo for an early swim. I mean not really EARLY, just at about lunchtime.

Today there were three wild Egyptian Geese on the dam as well and because I thought Loo was ready to swim with me across the dam to the other side, this is what we did. We eventually got to within about 4 or
5 meters of the wild birds before they took off and flew away. I think they were a little confused about the gosling following the “head” in the water and because Loo, as is with the goslings, was chirping the whole way, they seemed rather relaxed, possibly because they could hear her. These geese were geese I am not familiar with and the one seemed to be a young female. She was a lot smaller than the other two. When they flew off, with their customary cries of farewell, Loo tried to do the same. There was a lot of wing flapping and chirping for a short while on the water until the big birds had left. I am sure she still recognizes the call of the wild.

We got back to the other side again and paddled around for a little longer. The water was very calm, even though there was a storm passing by on the mountain nearby. Like yesterday, Loo only got out of the water when I pretended to leave but then I wanted to get some pics of her so sat nearby while she preened herself. It is amazing how much time is spent in preening. They are such proud birds.

In the past week her wings have doubled in length, so much so that now she has learnt how to use them to balance with. They now reach the ground so she has learnt to use the wing on her bad leg side as a crutch that she is starting to lean on. Isn’t nature incredible?

Now, her speckled chest feathers are starting to show themselves as well as her red back feathers. It is scary how fast the goslings grow when they reach this age. Within a week or two she will be testing her wings out. Not flying for about a month but I really look forward to her on the dam then. She goes underwater so much now that today the water was clean enough that I could watch her as she dived next to me. It seems to me that she is checking up as to whether there are any barnacles on her ship.

CHAPTER 24

Saturday 14^th and it has been a rather interesting morning for Loo and I. As is usual for me on Saturday mornings, if the weather is nice I take Loo out of her room and let her get some sun while I tidy up her bed. It was rather hot so I decided to take her for an early swim. Much earlier than yesterday (9am) and the dam was very glassy and calm. When we got there, there were, what I thought, were the same geese as yesterday sitting on the dam. It was hard to tell because they were so far away. As is becoming quite usual, Loo jumped in first so I decided to let her swim alone for a while, while I took a couple of pics. I eventually dived in and decided to try and swim away from her by swimming freestyle but she was faster than me, even with just her one leg. If she needs to she can move quite quickly in spurts. She uses all her appendages for this so I think it must take a lot of energy out of her.

Like I did yesterday, I swam with her to as close as we could get to the geese, to find out that they were Spurwings and not Egyptian. We did not get as close to them as we did to the Egyptians but they also seemed to be more relaxed due to Loo and her chirping. We then swam back again and paddled around a little before I decided to get out and try to get some more video records of her. She swam around on her own for about 15minutes before getting out to sit and preen herself near the water. We sat there for about half an hour and then decided to go for another swim. She actually went in before I did even though I had been thinking about it for a while.

We swam around for a while and then I lay swimming on my back with her sitting under my chin. She just sits there and plays around. She also has a habit of nipping my nipples in the water, probably because they are darker and look like food to her. Trouble is, she has now got quite a nip on her and from now on have to hold my boobs while I am swimming on my back. I am still in a little pain as I write this. Oh, it also seems as if I will have to start wearing a T shirt or something when we swim because her “toes” are starting to scratch my back as well.

Just before getting out for the second time, I was standing waist deep in the water watching Loo swimming close by when a Hawk decided to show up. Loo actually alerted me of it because she (as all babies are in the wild) is always on the lookout for predators. It flew around us, slowly getting lower and lower. Now, even though when Lulu was young we had a Hawk check us out but nothing like this. This one kept on circling, getting lower every time it went around until it got so low that I could almost reach it when throwing water at it. Loo even got a little worried and came closer to me, not taking her eyes off it for very long. It actually got to the point where I was worried as well and took her out of the water, putting her in her crate for safety. This is when it decided to leave and flew away.

I am pretty sure that the Hawk knew that Loo was not normal and possibly easy prey. It just surprises me that I could not scare it away. After seeing it fly away I decided to come home and go back again after dairy in the afternoon if we do not have a storm.

CHAPTER 25

Monday 16^th January, and as usual, when we have lovely weather we took Loo for a “dam” swim. Yesterday, while we were swimming I noticed that Loos bad leg seemed as if it could be put back into joint because she has grown so much since it dislocated that it looked as if it could be put back into joint again. I decided to take her to the vet today to see whether they could do anything for her. I left her there in the morning because the vet was busy doing a castration and went back for her in the afternoon. Unfortunately the news was bad in that her leg had nerve damage and was starting to atrophy. So, back to square one!
Poor Lulutu.

But, I digress. It was very hot today so the swim was looked forward to by all of us. My girlfriends’ daughter is with us now and she went for a swim with us today as well.

Only when we had almost reached the other side of the dam did I realize that there was an Egyptian Goose sitting in a tree overlooking the water. Then, as we got closer I noticed another Egyptian Goose in calm water under an old tree, near the reeds and she had with her 3 young chicks. By the size of them they must have hatched either today or yesterday. They must have just gotten into the water and were swimming around with her. I got to my “turn around” point and started on my way back but Loo, who had been hitching her customary ride, decided that she was going to stay in the area for a short while longer. BAAAD decision. I started swimming away and as soon as I was far enough away from her the one goose, which had been slowly swimming closer and closer to us, attacked Loo. I was too far away to be able to do anything so had to just watch. Loo was amazingly quick to “duck” out of the way and dived as the wild goose launched itself at her. But, as soon as she surfaced the goose was onto her. I then realized that I had to do something so swam back until the wild goose left her alone. Luckily, as soon as Loo saw me coming she swam as fast as she could to me. There was then a little bit of glaring between myself and the other goose but it decided not to carry on with its battle and just watched as we swam away. It was only protecting its young, which I totally understood. We swam back without further incident.

When we reached “home base” at the other side of the dam again I left Loo to swim on her own in the water and watched the wild geese on the other side with their babies. Something strange was happening over in their area. The one goose kept on diving, acting around as if it had something wrong with it. I have never seen a full-grown goose behave like this. It would thrash around in the water, then dive, only to surface and do the same thing over again. It kept up with this until it had reached the reeds at the bottom of the dam. I can only surmise that it was acting as some kind of decoy for the chicks because they arrived and joined their parents soon afterwards. There was also a small duck on the dam that received the same treatment as Loo but it just dived a couple of times, must have swum underwater and came up further away after every dive until the geese left it alone.

The whole family was in the reeds when we left to go home.

CHAPTER 26

Today is Wednesday 18^th and definitely no swimming today. We have had storms going around us since lunchtime and as I write this at 4 45pm it is still storming and raining. I am sure Loo would not mind because the same thing happened yesterday, EXCEPT that that storm was a typical storm we experience here. It came, spent half an hour “doing its thing” and then left again. The sun came out and we carried on as if nothing at all had happened.

I decided to go to the dam yesterday even due to the fact that the storm was coming because I knew it would not be with us for long. I got there and decided to take my towel off Loos crate so she could see what we were waiting for. The next minute she had jumped out of her box (with her one leg too) and landed head first on my lap. I realized then that she was rather keen on getting wet so I put her out in the rain. She did not mind this at all, just sitting there getting soaked every so often lifting her head to look at the dam as if to say “Get me in there!!!” Eventually, the rain stopped, the sun re appeared and we did go for our swim. As usual
we swam to the far corner of the dam, my hope being that the wild Egyptians were still around but there was no such luck. It was rather uneventful actually.

CHAPTER 27

Saturday 21^st and still Lulutu does not stop her growth spurt. It is a couple of days since we have been swimming at the dam because we have had some really lovely, but heavy, rains so the weather has not been conducive to swimming. Yesterday I worked late baling hay with a couple of my staff members and it was too late to go swimming after that. Anyway, the dam was so dirty with silt (it was an orangy colour) that I would not have swum anyway. (although Loo would have).

The weather today was not very wonderful until the afternoon when I decided to take Loo to the dam. I had let her out in the morning to sit in the garden while I cleaned out her room though. I still find it rather amazing as to how attached she still is to the shirt I put in her box when I first found her. It was on the grass drying and after she had hopped around a bit she went to it and lay with it. I guess it must be some kind of security blanket to her or something??

The dam was still very silty but I eventually decided to swim with Loo because as is the norm when we have not swum for a couple of days she went in ahead of me and was swimming quite far away from where I was. I wanted to take a couple of pics to compare her weekly growth and jumped in soon after. The water was nice and even though it was a little “off coloured” it did not smell so I stayed in long enough to swim most of the way to the other side. Now, Loo’s claws are starting to get much longer and are like needles so I eventually had to swim on my side so that she could not get a lift with me on my back because of the way she was hurting me. I am sure that she is now leaving scratch marks on my back. What will people say when I tell them that they are from a woman but NOT the kind of woman they think and definitely NOT in the heat of passion?

I got out of the water ahead of Loo but she did not stay in for much longer. I think the extra swimming I am making her do is tiring her out a little. In the evening we had a little storm again but it was mostly “talk and no action.”

CHAPTER 28

Wednesday 25^th and very little to say today. The weather has been against us as regards swimming. I took Loo to the dam yesterday after work but she was not too keen on swimming so we just returned home again. It was cool and a little miserable. One interesting thing happened though. I forgot to take my camera and was close to the dam, wondering what was going to happen and at that moment I reached the dam. Just as I got to the spot where we usually dive in a small duck with five chicks dived into the water. I have no idea what kind of duck it is but it is about the size of a Bantam chicken. The babies were tiny but boy were they great on the water!! One did a couple of dives to show how good it was before it caught up with its mother. They were so agile on the water that at times it seemed as if they were actually walking on it. Oh, where was the camera?

Today was a very hot day so the water was warm. I had decided to try and get some more video footage of her because it had been a while and I wanted to see how much she had grown compared to last time. She did not dive in first and waited until I had jumped in before joining me. Everything went as usual, Loo riding on my back part of the way to the other side of the dam but then she had a change of heart. I went back my usual route, through the middle of the dam but she decided to swim next to the reeds and grass on the side until reaching the place where we get out. Suffice it to say, she did not take much longer than I did to get back to home base. Even with only one leg she can swim much faster than I can. I sort of “wallow” along.

She got out of the water straight away so I brought her home. When I went to feed her in her room she was sitting down. I think the swim really gave her a good workout, as did it me.

CHAPTER 29

It is Wednesday 1^st February and nothing much to add. We did go swimming over the weekend but have very little to write about that. On Sunday the only thing of interest was that Lulutu got beaten up by a lone Spurwing goose. It flew over us a couple of times times and because Loo was being brave again and swimming away on her own it landed close by. She was about 20 or so meters away from me when the goose landed and proceeded to tell her where she belonged. As with the Egyptian geese previously, I had to swim up and put an end to the festivities. Suffice it to say, Loo swam with me until we got to the other side of the dam again.

On Monday it was nice for swimming again so I went quickly. Nothing unusual happened during our swim but just as we were nearing our end point, where we get out, I heard a couple of Egyptian geese in the vicinity of where I park. It was the same geese who beat up on Loo a week or so ago. Now, the babies have grown quite a bit already but there were only 3 left. Hopefully they will all survive. AAAAND, guess what?? I did not have my camera with me this time either.

I am now rather sure that Loo might be a boy because so far “she” has not got a white tail feather the way Lulu did. I am not sure whether it has any significance but I guess with experience I will be able to tell whether it has any meaning or not.

Another thing is that Loo is becoming rather strong in the “beak” area as well and she keeps on nibbling me when we are swimming. The thing is that it is WAAAAAAAY more than a nibble and I have to make her swim on her own when she has pecked me. I am a little worried that she might break the skin.

CHAPTER 30

It is now 16^th February and very little has happened since last I wrote. Lulutu just keeps on growing and due to inclement weather we have not been to the dam for a while so she has not had the benefit of swimming excercises. (nor have I for that matter!!) The next time we are able to swim I will have to make sure that both the still and the video camera are working because I have a feeling that we will see her take off from the water. If I dive in and swim away before she has dived in she usually flaps her wings furiously across the water to catch up with me. Lately she has been testing out her wings so I have a feeling we might see her take her maiden flight from the water and not the land as a goose usually would do.

She has now grown big enough that I leave her door to her room open all the time so that she can come and go as she pleases. The Peacocks no longer bug her other than going into her room and “borrowing” her food now and then.

She usually sits on the grass outside her room and it is easy to see now how she is eating there.

CHAPTER 31

Sunday 19^th February and we had our first swim for quite a while today. The weather was lovely and there was time just before lunch to go for a short paddle. I was hoping to see Lulutu take off from the water if I dived in first and she swam/flew across the water to catch me up but unfortunately she dived in before me so that plan was squashed. I did try to swim away from her when I dived in and she “scooted” across the water to catch up to me but she still does not have enough wing power to lift her off the ground/water. She is testing them regularly now and even while we were swimming she tested them a couple of times.

We did not make it to the other side today because I think both Loo and myself were too tired. We are both out of practice. As she has done a couple of times before, she swam away from me and swam closer to the reeds at the edge of the dam on her way back to where we get out. I then tried to entice her to come swimming with me again but she was not interested. It was then that Dom showed me a wild goose (Egyptian) that had landed nearby and seemed to be intent on doing something about Loo being in its area. I swam back to her just in case there was a barney (I think this was one of the geese that beat up on her a couple of weeks ago because they had babies on the dam). I thought the reason it was a little interested this time was for the same reason. However, I did not see any chicks, although they could have been hiding in the reeds. They would be quite big by now and probably do not need as much attention from the parents as they used to.

Luckily nothing came of the episode because when I swam back to Loo the other goose kept its distance and eventually flew away when I tried to see how close I could get by swimming up to it. I caught Loo quite easily and we had an uneventful trip home. She is now actually too big for the crate I use to transport her in and the towel I use to cover her is no longer enough to control her so I have to keep a hand on it just in case she tries o jump out.

CHAPTER 32

27^th February and one of the few days when it has not stormed in the afternoon. Today I decided to take Loo to the dam on my own, due to the fact that my friends seem to have lost interest in the experience
with her. I decided to try her on the seat with me and not to use her crate this time. It worked even though there were wings and things all over the front of the truck for a while. She is not used to this way of traveling so because of her one leg she did find balancing rather difficult. Because of this she really opened her bowels on the seat. Luckily, I had had the presence of mind to bring a rag to put over the seat. Nevertheless, she did manage to stink it up a bit in the truck. On the way home she found that it was more comfortable for her if she sat down. Maybe she will get used to traveling like this soon. (if she has not flown away before then).

I needed to try and get some photos of her as well as some video footage and this is one of the few days where she did not disappoint me. Our swim started off differently. She was not too keen on swimming with me and decided to swim close to the reeds. Because I wanted video I did not have any intention of swimming right across the dam as we usually do and left the camera on the tripod filming as we swam..

She was swimming away from me near the reeds and was not too keen on getting out of the water so I had started taking some more video and pics of her. (oh, today I noticed a whitish tail feather amongst her tail feathers. I still wonder what this means). The whitish feather is definitely not as distinct as the one Lulu had when she was maturing so maybe this means nothing other than maturity.

I was watching Loo when I noticed a couple of Egyptian Geese on the other side of the dam. They were swimming slowly in our direction so I guessed that they were the geese that had attacked Loo before. I
was right when the female took off, then the male and they attacked Loo. I was filming at the time but it got
so that I had to try and rescue her. I swam up and down near where I saw her disappear near the reeds but could not find her. I eventually got out of the water and searched the dam wall near to where I had seen her and eventually found her hidden in the grass on the wall. She was no longer in the water, which is why I could not find her while swimming. The female wild goose was still patrolling the area but eventually swam away. I had tried swimming up to her and chasing her away earlier but all she did was take off and fly to a spot not much further away than where she had been before. Just far enough so that I could not get too close to her. They had one baby still with them which was rather nice to see. I hope this one is a survivor. Unfortunately, it is just big enough now to be a meal for a hungry predator.

I eventually caught Loo and we left for home. She was none the worse for her experience.

She is now testing her wings on a regular basis so we can expect some flights soon. I have seen her take off and fly for a short distance and so far she seems to be managing landing on one leg quite well. I wonder whether she will fly away for good the way Lulu did? I suppose we will have to wait and see.

CHAPTER 33

Wednesday 1^st March and other than trying to get more “wing” pics of Loo there is not much to add. Being a holiday today and it being a lovely morning I decided to watch Loo for a while. She is now flying
further and further albeit still in the confines of the garden. She has adapted amazingly well landing on one leg now and she went beyond the gate outside the garden for a while but when I last looked she was lying in her grass patch near to where she sleeps. Just outside my bedroom.

Something I have noticed when she is relaxing is that she will not lie out in the open. She will sit either under something, near a pole or something that will protect and inhibit any predator from getting to a spot where she would be vulnerable. Isn’t nature amazing??

This morning there were two wild Egyptian Geese in the vicinity and I can only presume that it was “Mother” Lulu and her hubby. I did not get a chance to see where they were going but maybe they perceive her as a threat to their territory now that she is almost on her way on her own. We will just have to keep an eye on what develops. There might actually be another reason as well and that is they know that Loo is not perfect in body and they might attack her. I hope this is not the case.

LULUTU section 2, From 1^st March 2006, From Chapter 34

CHAPTER 34

Sunday 5thMarch and I have eventually been able to get a couple of pics of Loo in flight. I still need to try and get some video but now that she is flying further and further it should not be too hard. She is really good on her one good leg now. Landing only seems a problem when she has had an extended flight and comes in to land too fast.

This morning Tablet, my one cat was with us and as Loo took off he tried to catch her in mid air. If he had not mistimed his jump he would have caught her. I am not sure what he would have done had he caught her but he got a knee in the groin from me for this attempt. I was surprised to see how high he could jump from a standing start.

We have had a surprised cold spell lately that has put off any swimming for a while so it seems at the moment that she might be on her way before we get a chance for another swim. I have a feeling now that even though she might fly away when able to she might adopt the garden as part of her domain as my Peacocks seem to have done. They go away during the day but are always around in the early morning and afternoon.

Well, it is the same day and we had a little warmer weather this afternoon. It actually got warm enough that I and the rest of my “family,” with a friend, decided to go for a swim and take Loo for a short paddle. When we got to the dam I thought I saw the wild geese on the other side so put the word out to watch them just in case they took an interest in Loo like they did the other day. But, when we went for our swim and got closer to where they were we noticed that thy were in fact only ducks, a kind I have never seen in our area before. They were smaller than the geese with white/ish heads. I am not sure whether the male or the female had the white head because the other one had one of a grayish colour.

Today Loo swam close to me. Probably because she remembered her last experience in the water but also possibly because there were three of us in the water and not just the people she is familiar with.

It was a rather uneventful trip. She is now learning to balance on the seat of the truck and seems to enjoy putting her head under my arm when I am driving, probably because it helps with her balance.

CHAPTER 35

Monday 6^th March and this morning something a little different happened. A couple of times now I have heard Lulu and her hubby “talking” in the area near the house but have not thought too much about it because it is just lovely to hear them in the area, but this morning I had to come home just after roll call and she and her hubby were standing in the middle of the road not far from my house. I wanted to get a pic or two for records but unfortunately another vehicle came up the road after me and they flew away to land in the field close to my house. Then, by the time I had fetched my camera they had vacated that area for the land on the other side of my house. I was able to get a long- range pic of the two of them but while I was there Loo decided to go for an “extended” flight. She flew over my head, around some big Pine trees and over the house. When Lulu saw her both she and her hubby complained bitterly so I think I have an idea as to why the two of them are once again in the area. They have noticed the stranger in their area and knowing how protective they are over their territory they will probably try and chase Loo away. I hope this is not the case though because Loo might need to rely on us quite a bit for sustenance during the winter months.

I have said before how well Loo flies and this morning she showed how well she does fly already. If her
mother had flown in the area when he was her siblings age you would have had to duck. She could more or less
only fly in straight lines. Loo is a real “aerial acrobat” compared to her. Lulu would have flown into a tree for sure. Even on the day she left us she flew away like a recuperating alcoholic.

CHAPTER 36

Sunday 13^th March and even though there is not much to add I have been getting a couple of decent pics of Loo flying. On Wednesday morning I thought she was saying goodbye because she flew around the house twice while I was feeding the calves from the dairy, then I could not find her. Her Mom did the same thing once or twice and then left without saying “Goodbye.” I am expecting her to do the same thing soon because now she only has one or two baby feathers left so is now, to all intents and purposes, a fully grown goose. But, until today she is still with us and shows no intentions of leaving.
Yesterday it was a rather steamy day so myself and a couple of friends decided to take her to the dam for a swim. Nothing untowards happened and she did not swim very close to me for long. She is becoming very independent on the water now. One thing she always does is keep her eyes open for what I think is mainly the wild geese that beat her up and possibly a stray hawk. She swims with one eye to the sky the whole time.

The only difference was that she has now reached the stage of her life that I would class as her “teenage” years, which also happened with Lulu, at about the same age. She is now slowly becoming part of the
wild and is losing interest in returning home. It was the first time I had to catch her and she tried to get away. I eventually drove the truck away in the hope that she would complain and follow. It did not work. (I had tried
the same trick with Lulu and she did not go for it either). I had to walk back to where she was and get back into the water to catch her. It will not be long now before she will be more and more difficult to catch and then will not stay at home.

I have just had a look at Loo’s mothers diary to see when she left us and it was 27^th March 2003 so we do not have too long before it will be time to say “farewell” to Loo as well. At least this time I will not be as surprised as I was with Lulu because I was under the impression then that she was not going to leave us either. She was closer to us than Lulutu is because we could take her for walks that is not so easy with Loo because of her disability. But, we never took Lulu swimming either. I never did because at that time I was not swimming in the dam yet so the thought never entered my mind. Nevertheless, it is going to be rather interesting to see how close the dates coincide if Lulutu does leave.

CHAPTER 37

Saturday 18^th March and today it was warm enough to take Loo for a swim again. During the week there has not been too much time to do anything other than try and get a couple of pics of her in flight.

Today, something happened that I had been waiting for but, as it goes, I had decided not to do any filming because it was a little too windy. A couple of friends were with me and, as usual, Loo had jumped in before us and was washing herself. Just before I dived in she started flapping her wings and actually took off from the water and flew for a meter or two. I had been waiting for this moment for a long time and I did not get
a photo of her. After that episode she flapped along the water possibly in an attempt to take off again but she did not succeed. It was not from lack of trying though. She did find that she could swim a lot faster by doing
this though. Then we all swam across the dam to the other side and back again. There were a couple of wild Egyptian geese and a lone Spurwing on the dam as well but Loo seems to have learnt her lesson and swam close to us the whole time. The other geese left her alone this time.

I think she had enjoyed herself a bit and was tired because it was not difficult catching her to come home again. Hopefully, we will be able to take her to the dam tomorrow as well and then I WILL have the camera out, no matter how windy it might be.

CHAPTER 38

I am SOOOOO disappointed. Today is Sunday and we did get a chance to take Loo to the dam again. BUT, today I had somebody with us to try and get some video footage for me. Unfortunately Loo surprised everybody. She did not jump in the water first and only went in after I dived in. This is when she caught us off guard the first time. She did not jump in but flew in and landed close to me in the water. She then showed how happy she was by diving around me and washing and splashing around and generally showing her pleasure that
way. THEN, I swam away from her and she took off and flew to a spot further down the dam and waited for me
to catch up. Today she swam with us again even though there were no wild geese to be seen. We once again swam to the other side of the dam and when we were about half way back she once again took off and flew closer to the edge of the dam.

I tried to get her to take off from the water again by swimming away from her again but she was not interested. I think she had had enough exercise for the day. It is so hard writing this with pictures in my mind but nothing to put down here as a memory. She has not left yet so hopefully there is still time to get a couple of decent pics of her taking off from the dam.

CHAPTER 39

Wednesday and it started off on an interesting note. As usual in the morning, I had my video camera with me just in case Loo decided to do some “tree hopping.” This morning she did not let me down. As her mother used to do, what she did was wait for me to walk a distance and then she would fly and land near me. What was different to her mother was that she also flew around the house a couple of times and still came to land next to me. As of yet, I have not seen the footage I got but know it should be rather good.

It was a mixed weather day today. It was cool and cloudy until about lunch - time when the clouds started to break up and it became warm enough to take Loo to the dam for a swim. (I am desperate to get some pics before she flies away for good). I had a young friend with me in the hope that she could get some pics
should Loo fly the way she did on Sunday. Well, I set up the video camera on a tripod so it might be able to get anything that might happen and dived in the water. It was rather pleasant and when I dived in, like Sunday, she flew in, landed next to me and “did her thing” I then tried to swim away from her in an attempt to entice her to fly but no such luck. She was not interested. I had decided not to swim right across the dam today because of the cameras so swam back to the side again. Loo actually had already left me and was on her way back doing her little one legged “goose stroke.” I got out, dried myself off and put my equipment away before trying to catch her. Now, Murphy must have been around because his law states that, “As soon as you pack your cameras away, something is bound to happen. This is exactly what happened. Loo was not too keen on going home just then and just as I was about to catch her she took off, flew across the water for a while and then climbed to altitude. The first thought in my mind was, “Goodbye Lulutu,” but after flying around us two or three times she landed in shorter grass about 30meters away from where we were. I walked up to her and did not have too much trouble catching her again. Guess what? Oh yeah, we did not get a thing on tape or stills.

I am just holding thumbs that we are able to get something before she leaves us for good, especially still pics for the book Her mother left us before she was flying nearly as well as her son/daughter. (I am still not sure as to what sex Lulutu is).

CHAPTER 40

Wow, this afternoon really turned out to be rather interesting at the dam, even though the end result was the same as yesterday. This morning I just got a little bit of Loo before the battery in the video camera went dead so I put it on charge before going to work.

It was a lovely Autumn day today and warm enough after work to take Loo to the dam for a swim. I did not think she would fly this afternoon because she was not too interested yesterday until it was time to come home. As usual, she flew in after me after I dived in and in her excitement and diving she actually dived and came up underneath me. I guess I should have known something was up when she did that and she did not let me down. She then took off and flew a little way away from me and waited for me to catch up. I must add that I have found out that the more splashing I make the more excited she seems to get. Maybe she thinks I am trying to take off as well because she flaps her wings along the water as if giving me coaching lessons.

We swam almost to the other side until Loo turned back so I followed her. I have no idea what caused it but she suddenly took off from the water and flew around me a couple of times before landing once again. She was quite a long way from me so I let her do her own thing. She swam towards the edge of the dam and then took off again. This time she flew around me a couple of times, a couple of times over my head, so close that
you could hear her wings beating in the air but you could tell she was enjoying herself because a couple of times she flew so far away that you could hardly see her. She eventually landed on the water again but by this time I had gotten out was drying off. She swam to a spot quite far away where she got out of the water and was preening herself on the bank. I had thought to myself when she took off the second time that this was going to be when we had to say goodbye to her, but decided to swim again and to see whether I could swim to where she was, catch her, and bring her back to the truck by carrying her through the long grass at the edge of the dam. It sort of worked out because I was able to catch her but the walk back through the reeds and long grass was too much because she struggled the whole way, to the point where I threw her in the air so that she could fly again.She stayed up for a long time this time, once again flying over us (today I had two friends helping me to get some footage) and again low enough that you could hear her wings beating. She was still flying when I eventually got back to the truck. I took over the video camera so that I could say my “Goodbyes” to her but while I was filming her she landed in the same area where she landed yesterday.

I went up to her, caught her easily and we came home again. She was quite happy to let me catch her this time because I think she was tired, and just muttered under her breath quietly while I carried her to the truck.

I think that the next time this happens it will not be so easy to catch her. She is now strong enough to be on her own as a full - grown goose.

I also have a theory now as to why she keeps on flying over my head when she is flying around and that is that she is waiting for me to take off. I don’t think this is as far - fetched as it seems!!!

CHAPTER 41

Friday and once again a nice afternoon to take Loo swimming. As it turned out it was a little different than yesterday but the ending was the same.

It was rather windy which made any dialogue on the video camera difficult, but I get ahead of myself. Today Loo flew into the water while I was getting ready and she waited for me near the middle of the dam. Now, I was expecting to say goodbye to her today but then I think that from this time onwards we will be saying goodbye to her every day until she decides for herself that it is time to go. I did notice yesterday that she still has a couple of baby feathers on her neck but am not sure this means she is not mature enough to be on her own.

I swam out to her but decided to swim back again to see what she would do. As I hoped, she took off and flew around in the same area as yesterday. I think she is becoming rather frustrated that I am not flying with her because she flew over me a couple of times chatting away. I am sure she was telling me to hurry up and join her in “goose language.”

Like she did yesterday, he flew around the dam and then landed on the water. Today she landed closer to us (I had gotten out of the water and was warming up) and swam to a spot close to the edge where I thought she had got out. I decided to try and catch her but when I got to where she was found that she was still in the water. I tried to grab her but she took off again and did the same thing she did earlier. Flying around the dam and over our heads until eventually she tired and landed (once again) in the hay land which is adjacent to the dam. I walked up to her, caught her quite easily and here we are again.

CHAPTER 42

Well, it is 27^th March today and Loo is still with us. I had a look in my “Lulu” book to see when she came into my life and I have put it down as early December 2003. Now Loo came into my life in November 2005 so she has already “overstayed” her welcome if nature dictates that she go free and on her own again. So, if times are to be close to being the same for a goose (Egyptian) to mature then Loo was ready to leave a while ago. But, if she is a HE and males take longer to mature then that might be the reason as to why she/he is still with us.

CHAPTER 43

Wednesday 29^th and even though it was a little cool for me to swim I took Loo to the dam after work. I am having a little “down” time in my personal life and needed to do something to get my mind off it. I was not sure what to expect today because every day is a new day with her. I have decided that if she is going to stay
with us to put a heater in her room for our rather chilly winter nights. But, that time has not yet arrived.

I made sure that I had all of my equipment out and ready before I let her out of the truck today because I expected her to fly into the water quickly like the other days. Well, she only flew in when Sjimbra (my German Shepherd) startled her. I could tell that she was not too keen on swimming without me because she kept on watching me to see when I was going to dive in. When this did not happen she started flapping her wings in the water as if to coax me. I have to admit that I did intend swimming until I got to the dam. A rather chilly breeze had started blowing that made me change my mind.

Then she changed her tactics. She started swimming back to shore, had a change of heart, took off and did a crash dive. I have never seen her do this before. It was like a goose belly flop. I suppose she could have been startled by a Swallow because there were some flying and drinking as they do.

After the belly dive she swam back to shore where we were but when I tried to catch her to bring her home she took off and went for her customary flight. After a couple of “round trips” she once again landed on the water (properly this time) and swam back to shore a little ways away. I was getting chilly so decided to try and catch her again but once again she took off and flew around like she does. I then decided to pack up and drive away as if I was leaving to see what she would do and turned around about 400meters down the road. Whether it worried her or not I have no idea but when I got back she was slowly swimming to where we usually dive in. I gave her a short while and then tried to catch her again. This time I tried following her in shallow water but once again she took off. Eventually she landed on the water in the same place again and after watching her for a while I decided that if I could not catch her then I would leave her there for the night. As luck would have it she was now out of breath and I caught her quite easily.

I would love to know what that belly dive meant. Was she hoping I would dive in to “rescue” her or was she dived upon by a Swallow? I got video of it but as of yet have not had a chance to see it. I was on my own so was not able to get any still photos.

CHAPTER 44

Thursday and a very similar scenario when we take her to the dam. I had my helpers today so hopefully some interesting video. It is terribly difficult to get still pics because everything happens so quickly.

Today it was really warm for this time of the year so I did swim with her. (a couple of times as it turned out). The water was so clean that you could see your feet in the depths, which is unusual. I cannot remember it ever being that clean. It is slowly becoming too cool for swimming and every day I take Loo to the dam I am more confidant that she will be returning home with me even if I have to try to catch her every time. I will only be taking her to the dam now when it is very warm otherwise she will have to wait until next summer. I wonder how strong the mating instinct is going to be with her. Today in the truck I put my hand on the seat next to her and she sat next to it and nuzzled me. I sometimes support her with my free hand to help her balance because she has a hard time with this when we are on the road. Another thing is that her voice is changing. I did not experience this with Lulu because she had left before this. OR, Loo is a He of course.

Anyway, she went into the water first but did not fly in. She just stepped in casually. I dived in soon after and you could tell she was happy by the way she dived under me. Not once but a couple of times. With the water being so clean I could actually watch her beneath me.

We swam together for a while and again, the more splashing I did the more she copied me. Silly girl, probably still hoping I am going to take off or something. We swam about half way across the dam before I decided to turn back. I was hoping to get her to fly but she was not interested. I then swam home and she came to where we dive in. For a short while she just stood there and I know now that if she has not had her fun and is tired I will not be able to catch her so I went and tried to grab her but she flew away and did her thing. When she had had enough she landed on the dam and swam to the spot where I had swum to fetch her once before. I had the camera on the tri pod by this time so decided to try what I did yesterday again by driving away but this time to record her reaction.. I left the camera on and drove away to see what would happen. I am not sure she cared at all because she was in the same place when we returned. I had been calling to her before and by her reactions she knows my voice and possibly her name. Definitely my voice.

It was still warm enough so I decided to swim to her again, but this time, instead of trying to carry her back through the long grass, my intention was to force her to fly by throwing her in the air. This I did and she went on an “enforced” flight, once again flying in her customary beautiful way, over my head as I swam back again, laughing at me as she came back over me a couple of times. She was either laughing or feeling sorry for me because a couple of times it seemed as if she was going to land next to me but changed her mind. She even had put her one wheel down as if to land but changed her mind every time and retracted it. After this flight she landed closer to us in a spot where I have discovered it to be shallow enough to walk. So, this is what I did. I got into the water behind her and slowly walked behind as she swam. I actually caught her once but she did not try to fly away so I just followed her to where we dive in and caught her quite easily.

As she did on the trip to the dam, on the way home I put my hand next to her and she nuzzled me.

CHAPTER 45

I was thinking about the bond hat has grown between myself and Loo today and just now, while looking at pics of her, came across one that might tell a little of how she and I connect. It is out of focus but still I think is rather explanatory.

Another thing I have noticed with her which happened with her mother is that she is starting to stand up
for herself against the dogs and cats. I did not have cats when Lulu was with us because they are a fairly recent addition to our family. This happened just before Lulu left on her own until returning to nest.

I have now stopped saying goodbye to Loo because she always seems to want to come home. At one time, whenever we took her to the dam we would say goodbye to her just in case we did not see her again but so far we have been able to catch her after she has tired herself out flying.

CHAPTER 46a

2^nd April and this morning after dairy I had a sick cow to check on and inject. It was about 6am and not properly light yet but as I went to the land, where the cow is, which is not too far from my house, Loo came for a short flight over us (myself and Sjimbra) almost bonking into me. I guess this was her “Good Morning” flight. She must have been watching us from the house and needed a warm up flight.

CHAPTER 46

It is 2^nd April and should be April Fools Day today instead of yesterday. It was rather warm so, being Sunday, and myself only having dairy to do, I took Loo for a swim. Needing some alone time with her I
decided to go on my own without any helpers. Loo is becoming familiar with sitting on the seat next to me now
as we drive to the dam and today she actually jumped onto my lap and let me support her for most of the way.

The dam was really beautiful with hardly a ripple. BUT, the water is starting to cool down now and you can tell from the amount of time Loo swam that she is also starting to notice it. She jumped out of the truck and hopped to the water sitting their waiting for me while I set everything up. She did not swim away from the side today and just “played” close to where we dive in.

I set up the camera so carefully, or so I thought, until I got home to have a look at today’s footage when I found that Murphy had played an April Fools joke on me. I dived in to join Loo and we swam out. It was not long before she took off and went for her flight, flying around and over my head as she usually does. This, I had set up the video camera to film but when I got home found that I had mistakenly changed the zoom just before diving in, so I just wasted tape. I get ahead of myself though, because she flew around a few times and then landed where we dive in, right in front of the camera. It was really something I would have liked to have on film but no such luck today. I tried to coax her into swimming with me again but she was not interested until I tried to catch her to come home and even then she just flew out of range and swam back as soon as she saw I had given up.

I then tried a different tactic and sat down on the grass near to her to take some pics. I got into the water to see what they would come out like if I took some photos of her from there. I just sat with her and she preened herself, drying off. I sat with her until she relaxed with me and did not put up too much resistance when I went to catch her to come home. It would be amazing if I could drive home, without catching her and she would follow the truck home.

CHAPTER 47

Monday3rd April and summer is back for a short while. I had taken a days leave today and because it was hot, decided to take Loo for a swim at lunch time. The dam was once again beautiful, but with a little difference today in that there was a whole bunch of Spurwing Geese on the water when we got there and one lone Egyptian Goose.

I could tell that Loo, even though she wanted to swim was a little wary about all the strange faces on her pond. She did not get into the water but hopped down to the edge and stood there, digging in the mud on the side while I set up the video camera. When I was ready and dived in she followed me quite happily and dived deeper than I have seen her dive before. She must have gone down almost a meter and with only one leg pushing I find that quite amazing. I was not even aware that they really did much diving at all because they are not fish catchers nor are they bottom feeders. She dives around me regularly when we first dive in.

We swam around for a while, Loo staying quite close to me because of the others but they did not show any aggression towards her at all, until later, when the Egyptian Goose chased her. I swam as close as I could to the other geese but they kept their distance from us. We then swam back to where we dive in. Loo once again sat there doing her own thing until I tried to catch her when she went for a flight. Today she stayed up for a long time, eventually “buzzing” the wild Egyptian Goose as if to show it how good she was in the air. I had thought that the Spurwings might have taken off and chased her but this did not happen. They just took no notice of her.

She eventually landed in the hayland next to the dam and I went to fetch her. She let me catch her easily
enough but struggled too much on the way back so I put her down and she flew around again. When she landed this time she landed at the spot on the other side of the dam where I have had to swim for her but luckily the spot was occupied (I do not know how she did not see that) and just after she landed there the wild Egyptian chased her away. It seems as if there were two Coots sunning themselves there.(at least I think they were Coots!!) She then flew around for a short while, but this time you could tell she was getting tired and after a short flight she landed quite close to us and was not a problem when I went to catch her. This time I “swam” her to where we dive in, picked her up and brought her home.

I had a friend of mine taking photos today and she took all of the pics here. It is so nice to see pics from another person because of their unique perspective.

CHAPTER 48

Today is 5thApril 2006 and this morning Loo/Lulutu, finally said her farewell. I said goodnight to her last night and I heard her at about 5o clock this morning but when I got up and took her food to her she was nowhere to be seen. It is 3pm of the same day as I write this, I have been to have a swim at the dam in the hope that she might be around there but no such luck. The only “people” there were a couple of Coots and the wild Egyptian goose that chased her the other day. A couple of Swallows were drinking and there were a bird or two of other species but no Loo. I am not as sad as seeing her leave as I as with her mother because I knew it was going to happen (unlike with her mother where I really thought she was going to stay) and, like her mother, she will most probably be back in the Spring, if not sooner.

An advantage with Loo is that she/”He” will be rather easy to spot. I have a rather strong feeling that she might visit us again one more time before leaving for good though. I am really missing her but my feeling towards her is more positive than it was to her Mom.

For a while I will be going to the dam regularly just in case she is there, possibly not to swim because we are in our Autumn now so the water is getting colder but to see whether she might be in the area. The problem is that I have no idea as to which direction she was headed. I have learnt from experience that there are really no such things as “Goodbyes,” only temporary farewells because we will all be seeing one another again.

Yesterday I took Loo to the dam and I think she was trying to tell me then that she was going to leave soon because she let me support her most of the trip and then was not too keen on swimming. She did not fly around as is her custom either which I did find a little strange.

This is NOT the end Loo, just a temporary farewell.

CHAPTER 49

It is two days since Loo left us and there has been no sign of her since she went. I have not given up hope of seeing her one more time before she goes but the way time flies it will not be long before she returns (that is if her mother, Lulu will not chase her away from this area because she might class it as her territory now, seeing as she has nested here twice already). We will see in the new season.

I am thinking of sending a photo of her to one of the local newspapers to find out whether she has been spotted elsewhere. I would be interested to know how far they fly to get away (I think) from our winters here that can be rather cold.

Loo, if we do not see you until the new mating season please fly carefully, stay away from strangers, both animal and mammal and may your wings and leg be strong when we see you again in the spring.

PS As I write this in 2011, Lulutu has not been seen again. I do suspect that she was actually a "He" and He had to find his own territory. I refuse to think that He/She did not survive.

It is funny how Shorty never bonded with Him the way he bonded with Lulu. She left a huge gap when she left and i still get a wet spot when I think of those times. Even though she comes back every year she does not always nest close to home. Thewy have to steal a nest fron another bird. (well they do here...............)

The photos I will try and put ona separate blog.

NAMASTE

PS I actually think that Lulutu was a male after reading how "He" behaved..................

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