All of the work that Greg and his family put into decorating their house for Halloween is ruined by a gang of geese that have been terrorizing the town. The geese fly through their town every year during the fall on their way south, and usually, they do not cause any problems. For some reason, this year, “they’re SUPER aggressive toward people” (53). The geese smash the jack-o’-lanterns that Greg and his family have carved. Greg and Rowley get ambushed by the geese on their way home from school every day, and they even go after Mr. Heffley when he goes to get the mail. Greg’s father wants to call Animal Control, but Mrs. Heffley will not let him. She argues that the geese were here first, and that humans are “the ones intruding on THEIR lives” (55). 

Greg argues that he is okay with animals “as long as they keep their distance” (55). He thinks about how dogs got close to humans thousands of years ago, and now they have very comfortable lives. He also thinks that cats are smart for convincing humans to feed them, sometimes to the humans’ detriment. Greg’s family has “problems with [their] own pet” (57), a pig.