Word comes that a prison in Brazil has decided to use a gaggle of geese to help prevent prison breaks. The geese patrol a green space between the inner and outer wall of the facility. Prison administrators say the geese do a better job than dogs. It's true that geese are highly sensitive to disturbance and unusual sounds. In addition, geese can be more aggressive than dogs, attacking people and causing injuries.
What works today worked 2,400 years ago. In 390 (some say 387) BC, the Gauls engineered a sneak attack on Rome. Although the dogs of the metropolis failed to detect the intruders, geese gave the alarm, thereby saving the Eternal City. In appreciation Romans later raised a temple to the goddess Juno, since geese were considered to be sacred to her. The painting below depicts the sacred geese of Juno at her Roman temple.
Alas, for their failure to alert the dogs were severely punished (but we won't get into that). The geese, on the other hand, were decorated in gold and purple and carried on a litter during an annual procession in their honor.
Image of goose at top via Wikimedia Commons by J. J. Harrison. Image above: The Geese of the Capitol by Henri-Paul Motte, 1889, and in the public domain.
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