~ September 1996 - March 28, 2013
NAME ORIGIN
From the figure in ancient Greek legend and the character in A Midsummer Night's Dream.  It just seemed like a good name for a male goose.
DATE OF BIRTH
Lysander and his mate Desdemona came to live with us in February of 1997. They were adults at the time and we never really knew how old they were. We assigned them a birthdate of September 1996 on the theory that they were young adults, but they could have been born well before that date. 
BREED / PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
China Brown (aka Chinese Brown).  China Browns and China Whites are very common breeds of domestic geese.  As far as geese go, they are not very large or heavy, though they make up for lack of size by being startlingly loud.
China Browns have orange legs and feet and orange rings around their eyes.  In the males, this orange coloration becomes more intense in the breeding season.  Males also have larger "knobs" above their beaks than females do.
HISTORY
Lysander's and Desdemona's history is related on the Geese Home Page.
PERSONALITY
"Faithful" and "considerate" are the words that come to mind first when I think of Lysander.   He was very attentive to Desdemona and always behaved like a gentleman.  He was devastated when she died and honked non-stop for days.  It was heart-breaking to see him like that and we were worried he would actually pine away and die.  When we acquired Gabriel as a companion for him, he was delighted and instantly became as attentive to him as he had been to Desdemona, then became a protective, faithful mate to Josephine after Gabriel died.  He was also very polite to Ophelia in the short time we had her. 
With humans, he was reserved and did not like to be touched, but was never the least bit aggressive.
MEDICAL CONDITIONS

In the summer of 2000, Lysander decided to experiment with drugs.  See Details. In the winter of 2009/2010, he developed a cataract in his left eye and as a result, had very limited vision in that eye. His vet said that geese don't develop age-related cataracts, so it may have been the result of an infection or perhaps it was genetic. It didn't seem to bother him much.

He died very suddenly while my husband was on a business trip. When I fed the geese on the morning of March 28, 2013, I though I saw Lysander breathing with his beak open, which concerned me. He acted perfectly normal after that, however, and I figured I was just upset and rattled, as a few minutes earlier I'd discovered that Beatrice Isabella, one of my box turtles, had died in hibernation.

I decided to check on him one more time before leaving for work, just in case. When I did, I discovered that he had collapsed and died. In view of the suddenness of his death and the lack of symptoms beforehand, I assume he probably had a heart attack or something along those lines.
HOBBIES
"Marching" in puddles.  When he encountered a puddle of water on the ground, he stomped his feet in it as though he were marching in place.  Desdemona did this occasionally also.  I am not sure what purpose this behavior would serve in the wild.  Perhaps the "marching" stirs up bugs and worms or loosens aquatic plants.

He also loved being squirted with the hose even more than other geese.