outside Irish hagiography, the resurrection of animals is a marginal type of miracle, yet it does appear in a distinctive form in the vitae of six western saints, all of which are relatively minor works of hagiography. At first sight, the six miracles follow an almost identical narrative. The story typically begins with the news that geese are devastating the fields belonging to the saint. The saint then orders a servant of some description to drive the geese into an enclosure. This being done, the servant decides to take one of the geese for supper. On the following day the saint comes to the geese to give them permission to leave, but the geese appeal for their missing fellow. The saint, understanding the cause of the birds' distress, resurrects the stolen goose, explicitly from the remaining bones and feathers in most cases. Thus satisfied, the geese depart, sometimes with the saint's order never to return to her fields again. It is immediately apparent that this story is not dependent upon the Irish resurrection miracles, although there are some occasional motifs in common. The Irish miracles invariably involve livestock rather than wild animals, and are largely concerned with the miraculous ability of the saint to provide all provisions at need. The story of the geese is of an altogether different kind, involving a clear relationship, even a kind of reciprocal deal, between the saint and the animals, where the geese exchange obedience for protection.