28 Days Later (And I'm not talking about zombies...)

In case you were wondering about the prodigious growth rate of the goslings in my previous post, here's a little comparison to enlighten and entertain. The oldest goslings were about 2 weeks old in the photos I took on April 17. The new photos here are from today, a mere 4 weeks later.

This little, fluffy family...


...with the most darling faces...



...is now a ragtag gaggle of gawky teenagers...


...with down coming out in tufts, quills sticking out everywhere, and a general appearance comparable to mangy featherdusters...


Of course, when you grow to 2/3 your parents' size in only 6 weeks of life, there must be some growing pains involved...


...and a lot of sleep is required. (Seriously, is this one even breathing? It looks more like roadkill than Sleeping Beauty.)


Well, at least they don't have to go through it alone...


There's comfort in numbers. And their awkward teen phase is only a few weeks long, as opposed to a decade or more for humans. Heck, I'm not sure I ever got through mine. ;o)