A Wild Goose Chase

A Concerned Citizen recently asked for help in rescuing a Canada Goose with a badly injured wing. The goose was part of a flock that had taken up residence at a local Business Park where there were several ponds and also many employees who enjoyed feeding the geese. We were told “someone told someone” that the goose needed to be relocated because “some kids had tied a cinder block to its leg” and tried to drown it. This may or may not have been the case. First off, it’s not that easy to catch a wild goose (even an injured one) and not many kids hang out at Business Parks. Still, it was clear that this was a goose that was in need of help.

The Concerned Citizen (CC, for short) had come to a local class on Wildlife Rehabilitation knowing that this was her best shot at finding help for this poor goose. I was attending the class as a representative of the nonprofit group of Wildlife Rehabbers that I belong to and, since I wasn’t teaching or attending as a student, I was recruited to go in search of the goose. I grabbed my friend Sue (who was also there representing our nonprofit alliance) and told her we were going on a wild goose chase. Sue didn’t look particularly surprised or stop to ask for clarification, she just grabbed her stuff and came along (we’ve been on other adventures together, at least one of which I’ve written about here).

So, after finding a suitable cardboard box large enough to hold a Canada Goose, Sue and I set out with CC to find our goose. Without going into great detail, I can say that catching a wild goose (even an injured one) is NOT easy. The three of us tried to surround the goose and “herd” it into a corner so we could catch it, but it continued to elude us even though it couldn’t fly. I did more running than I have in many years (and paid the price later!). Still, after several close calls, it managed to get to the water and paddle away. None of us was willing to go swimming after it, so we had to accept defeat.

Meanwhile, we noticed that another goose in the group had a bad leg. He couldn’t use the foot at all, and could just barely use the leg to limp on dry land. To make matters worse, he was being tormented by the other geese. The “pecking order” is a real phenomenon – any goose that shows any signs of weakness will be pursued relentlessly by the other geese. We had also seen this occurring with the goose with the injured wing. So we figured we would try to catch him. After all, he couldn’t run away like the guy with the bad wing. After lots of waiting, the three of us finally had him surrounded about 10 feet away from the water. Unfortunately for our rescue efforts, this goose could fly. And he did. Right back to the water.

At this point, about an hour and a half had elapsed and it was pretty clear we weren’t getting anywhere, but I think none of us was ready to give up just yet. Sitting on the grass by the pond, I happened to turn around and who should I see about 50 feet behind me but Mr. Bad Wing. So we started surrounding him again and, long story short, I was able to grab him and get a look at the wing before putting him in the box. The goose with the bad leg would have to wait for another day.

I would love to say that this story had a great outcome; that the wing was miraculously healed and the goose released back to his goose family. But as soon as I saw the wing up close I knew what needed to be done. In the hour or so since we had first spotted him, he had been beaten up pretty badly and was quite bloody. There was bone protruding through the skin and his wing was almost turned upside down. This is not an injury that would heal; moreover, it was certainly excruciatingly painful. So we took him to a Wildlife Veterinarian who has extensive experience and a great deal of expertise in this area, and the goose was given the gift of a painless transition to freedom. It’s important to remember that sometimes, euthanasia is the best form of rehab; this was certainly one of those times.