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WingBeats Newsletter and Liberty Wildlife Annual Reports
Downloads:
The Homecoming by Megan Mosby (a sample article from Wingbeats)
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In this business we try not to assign
human characteristics to animals -- a
professional no-no related to what we
do, but sometimes the facts defy this
'scientific' notion. One such story
follows.
Many have heard the tale of the goose
that was shot out of the air, landing in
the lake dying, while its mate flew
down and stayed with it as the rest
of the flock migrated on along their
predetermined path. The mate stayed
as long as the wounded bird was alive
and then very reluctantly flew off in
hopes of catching up with the flock.
An urban myth …who knows? The
following story, however, is well
documented.
Liberty Wildlife volunteer, Claudia,
was dispatched to a lake in the far
west part of the Valley to assist in the
capture of what appeared to be an
injured Canada Goose.
Geese, and
water fowl in general, are difficult to
catch because they can fly, swim, and
run. They have to be in pretty bad
condition to be rounded up. This
particular goose had fallen prey to
the insidious effects of monofilament
line. It seems every body of water
contains this wildlife hazard.
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"No mistake about it, this was a purposeful gathering of the geese."
Released Canada Goose
Happy to be home
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It silently
snakes around beaks, necks, wings,
and legs. If the strand is allowed to
remain, it can cut into tissue damaging
ligament, muscle, and bone. Around
the neck or beak it can cause slow
starvation. As it tightens it cuts to the
bone, often resulting in infection and
ultimately death.
This goose was lucky, as the situation
was noticed early and dealt with
before too much
damage had been
done. Our rescue
volunteer and a park
ranger were able to
make the capture. In
order to limit any
struggling, the goose
was wrapped in a
sheet held together
with duct tape so that
it could make the trip
across town to
Liberty Wildlife
without further
damage.
Because of the fast action, the triage
procedure found that the injuries were
minimal. The monofilament line was
removed and the injuries treated. In
most situations it is best to get the
animal in and out as soon as possible.
This goose was ready to be
released in less than a
week. Here's where the
story gets better.
Our dedicated volunteer
gathered up the recovered
goose and trekked back
across town to the lake.
Upon arrival she noticed
that, as before, there were
about 200 geese arranged
in what looked like four
“family flocks” scattered
around the lake, all doing
the Canada Goose thing …
swimming around looking
for food, preening, and
hanging out.
The park ranger was there for the
release and two folks from the public
stopped by to see what was going on.
As always with Liberty Wildlife
releases, they were invited to stick
around to watch the successful culmination
of the rehabilitation process.
They were given a brief education
about what Liberty Wildlife does and
why.
Claudia opened the carrier and
released the goose into the water.
Perfect. Looking around the lake at
all the geese, he gave an inquisitive
honk … fine … a good sign. Then
from across the lake a goose in one of
the “family flocks” started to honk.
First it was one little “honk” which
was followed by a response from our
releasee. One contagious “honk”
led to another “honk,” and to the
amazement of the onlookers the goose
conversation turned into a chorus of
calls and responses.
The interesting
part is that only one group got into it.
There was silence from the other three
groups. “HONK, HONK, HONK,”
blasted back from the vocal family,
and then an excited response was
heard from our guy. With a flurry
of activity the calling flock across the
lake began to assemble on the shore
with much flapping and excitement.
Waddles, flaps, and honking created
a sense of urgency. No mistake about
it, this was a purposeful gathering
of the geese.
The releasee started to paddle straight in
the direction of the vocal ones -- healed
injuries forgotten -- as fast as he could with
absolutely no interest in the silent groups.
When the paddling wasn't fast enough, he
lifted his heavy body out of the water with
wings beating furiously against the surface.
He became airborne, then landed just offshore
from the honkers. He hit the water,
running, flapping and sort of flying, all
motion modalities engaged simultaneously,
until he found himself swallowed up in the
middle of the welcome home
celebration. Okay, I know I have
just stepped over the line of
“scientific,” but that is what the
crowd of people saw across the
lake.
It was clear that this group was
eagerly accepting our rehabbed
goose back into the flock. It was
clear through the tears in the onlookers'
eyes, without a word being
spoken, that this goose had been
given a second chance and was
home, back where he belonged with family.
And, it was clear to the humans that they
had witnessed something special. No
urban myth here.
It is enough to say that we will always try
to return an animal to its home territory if
it is safe and possible. This is just one such
story. But there are others that lead us to
believe that they know ... somehow they
just know.
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