teeth on his tongue?

[chickensducks&agoose]

Okay, I saw a picture of a goose in Newsweek... anyway, it obviously had teeth on the sides of it's tongue, feathery, icky, scary teeth.... A while ago I saw a BYC picture of a scary, strange goose, that i thought was cute except for it's tongue/teeth... someone informed me that all geese have those on their tongues, but actually owning a goose, and being bitten lots of times, i was sure that my goose didn't have these crazy tongue protrusions.... anyway, after the Newsweek article, i went outside with a mission, pinned the goose, and pried his mouth open. Lo and behold, my goose has these icky things too... what are they? why does he have them? what is the deal!!!!????!

 

[DuckLady]

It is part of his tongue. As you saw when you were in his mouth, your goose has no teeth. What you see helps tear food like weeds and break them up.

 

[shelleyd2008]

It is so freaky!! I'll surely be checking my goslings for these things when they arrive!! Ducks don't have them too, do they terrie?

 

[DuckLady]

Not to the same degree as geese. Look in your duck's mouth next time you corral him or her for a cuddle.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I'll have to do that tomorrow when I feed the 'babies'. They are already 'corraled' so they'd be the easiest to catch! The adults are on the pond, and just about as wild as they can be!! But that's good, it keeps them on their toes, so to speak.

 

[reveriereptile]

Are you talking about the teeth on the bill or something on the tongue? My male goose and duck were more noticeable with the teeth on the bill than the females.

 

[chickensducks&agoose]

I love your chinese picture... that looks JUST like my Mr. Goose, (how old is your goose, he looks a bit wrinklier than mine?). He has giant beak-teeth, but then, on the edges of his tongue, are these frilly sharp, spine-like teeth.... lots of teeth.... explains why it hurts so much to be 'goosed'!

 

[reveriereptile]

He was around a year old in that picture. I don't have him anymore. Sold him and his three females since they were noisey, messy, and the male would bite others or try to breed me.

 

[reveriereptile]

I looked up pictures of their tongues and you're right about the teeth on the tongue. Reminds me of the edge of a horseshoe crab shell. Kind of interesting looking.