Wild Goose Chase

Where are all my animal lovers at? So I’ve recently been taking care of a family of geese. I fell in love with how idyllic their family is. The mum always goes first, then the four babies and then the dad will walk behind with his chest up making sure that his brood is ok. They are very militant compared to other families. They always walk in this line (like the Van Trapps) and they seem a lot smarter than some of the other geese. 

Over the past few weeks I’ve witnessed the babies grow (see pictures...). And the dad who I have named King Goose no longer hisses at me, he trust me as does Mother Goose.

I noticed the past couple of days that one of the babies couldn’t keep up or in perfection formation any longer. He would struggle behind, making Mother Goose turn back and get him with attempt for him to join the three amigos (his/her siblings). He would just sit in frustration or pain... something was up. 

Saturday morning I noticed from my window that there were only three children and the mother was crying (honking) over and over again trying to find her fourth baby. 

I raced down to feed them to be sure the little one was missing and sure enough he was. 

On my way for my run I bumped into my new friend Rene who recently saved a swan and duckling (more on those soon)... I told him I had lost a gosling. He suggested I get on his boat to look for him. So I jumped onto the boat and around the marina we went. 

I knew my husband would be mad (as I’m a nervous swimmer) but hoped he wouldn’t find out. But sure enough my phone started buzzing and my husband saw me from our apartment window! Just as I was putting my phone back in my pocket I spied the gosling on a rock. All alone... struggling to walk. Something was wrong with his leg. We gave him some food and headed back to Rene’s dock to get more supplies to help rescue the little gosling.

When we returned (now with my husband and Rene’s wife Monica in tow), we found the gosling reunited with his family in the water. We could see he was struggling to swim but we were not going to unnecessarily separate it from the family. 

That night I walked my dog and saw that King Goose, Mother Goose and the three amigos we’re eating the grass at the yacht club. But Stark (named after the surviving children in Game of Thrones and not knowing the Golsing’s sex...) was not in sight. 

I walked back to the car park area and sure enough saw Stark alone. My heart broke. I still hesitated to get him as I knew by this point his family were pretty smart and would return for him.

As I returned inside my apartment I saw a man let his dog chase all the geese (and Stark) away... I could not see where Stark went and assumed we had lost him for good. My heart broke... To make matters worse, an hour later his family returned to the car park in search for him. I saw his mother searching frantically but none of us knew where Stark had gone. 

The next morning I decided to go for a run to help calm me down. I was pretty upset for not saving Stark when I saw him alone the night before. And was certain he wouldn’t have made it through the night... 

On my run, I saw Stark. All alone. Sat on some grass, nibbling on it occasionally. I immediately asked a man nearby if he knew the gosling was there and warned him it was injured and struggling to walk. He said he had noticed and wanted to help. 

I rounded up Monica, my husband and we immediately sprung into action. The gosling was frightened which made me question if we were doing the right thing... but the regatta was happening and the area was getting busier. 

After an actual wild goose chase, we managed to put Stark in a crate with some food (he was ok to eat as it was just a leg injury). We managed to have some luck in Lisa who kindly postponed her plans to drive us to The Raptor Trust. 

Once there at The Raptor Trust, we handed over Stark with hope that they may be able to figure out what’s wrong, heal him so we may return him to his family (I will be keeping tabs on them in the meanwhile hoping it will all work out)...

If it looks like he wouldn’t survive in the wild, the saddest outcome may be that he will have to stay at The Raptor Trust with the other abandoned or injured Ducklings and Goslings, and of course the American Eagle with one eye. So he will never be completely alone.

As of now we are still anxiously waiting to hear about Stark. But I will keep you all updated. 

If you are feeding the wildlife please make sure you have done your research and you are not encouraging them to be close to roads and cars. Also please do not feed the ducks, geese and swans bread... the kinds with sugar and chemical preservatives are really bad for them. Healthy bread is ok once in a while but it’s like feeding them candy. Look into a good brand of floating food for water foul like this here. 

Lastly; if you wish to make a donation to The Raptor Trust you can do so here. Even $5 helps! 

As always,

Live with Love,

The Bimbo in Limbo xxxx 

About the Author

Emily is the creator of The Bimbo in Limbo, a lifestyle blog covering motherhood, fashion, beauty and life in NYC.

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