Mother goose calls 911 (not really)

Insistent Canada goose coaxes Cincinnati police officers to help rescue her tangled gosling
goose-911 I'm working on it, Mommy! Officer Cecilia Charron works to untangle this goose's gosling. (YouTube/James Givens)


Like a lot of water birds, geese mothers are fiercely protective and watchful parents. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just trust me. You don't want to find yourself in between a mommy and her baby birds. Honk! Squawk! Nibble! Peck!

Okay, okay, Mommy goose! I'm leaving!

Anyway, you get the idea.

And that protective, concerned nature makes this story all the more amazing. Because this is a story of a goose who not only trusted a person with one of her goslings. It seems that she went looking for human help on purpose.

Honk! Over here!

Sergeant James Givens has been on the Cincinnati police force for 26 years. He's helped a lot of people and seen a lot of things. But this was a first. He was sitting in his parked police cruiser when a lone Canada goose came waddling over into the lot. It started to honk and peck at his car door. It was as though she was trying to get the officer's attention.

“It kept pecking and pecking and normally they don’t come near us,” Sergeant Givens told a reporter at Cincinnati TV station WKRC. “Then it walked away and then it stopped and looked back so I followed it.”

Emergency call

640px-Goslings-Hawrelak-Park-Edmonton-Alberta-Canada-01-A
Goslings (Wikimedia Commons)
The officer was led by the goose to one of her goslings. The baby bird was tangled up in some string tied to a burst balloon. Sgt. Givens figured that he was being asked to help the bird, but he was still worried that the goose might attack him if he touched her baby. So he radioed for an animal expert at SPCA (that's the Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Animals), but no one was available. But his colleague, Officer Cecilia Charron, heard the call and said that she wanted to help.

Soon, Officer Charron was there, working gently to untie the little gosling.

"She showed up on her own," Sgt. Givens told the website The Dodo. "I told her to be careful, but she just walked over and untangled the baby. The mother goose just watched, like she knew. It was amazing."

Yep. It's amazing alright. In the video below, taken by Sgt. Givens, you can see it all unfold, including the happy reunion of a mother and her baby as the two waddle off toward the water. Throughout, the mother and baby honk and squeak to one another, while Officer Charron keeps reassuring them, "It's okay. It's okay. I know."

And what do you know? It was okay. Yay!


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  1. Loved this! Birds and animals understand more than we realize. What a smart Mother Goose to get someone to help her baby!! 🙂

      1. 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 🙄 goosily ever after

      2. 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 🙄 goosily ever after 😆 😆 😆

  2. What a great story! What great, caring officers!!
    Aren’t animals wonderful?
    Hopefully people will think twice about releasing balloons.
    They can be so dangerous for our wildlife.

  3. So much for all the negative publicity about police in recent days. This is an example of the police that I know: Their job is to protect and help and that is what they do. Good example here is that they protect and help all creatures. However, sometimes, the person that they must help and protect is themselves.

  4. 🙂 Totally amazing. We hear so many things about the police and this is what they are supposed to do – Help Mother Goose. Great outcome. Good PR.

  5. Q:is there any place infested by geese?
    ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………..no.

    A:honk kong.
    really?

    no it is just a joke

  6. What an awesome thing these officers have done. And how intuitive that goose was to know how to seek help from caring persons. You are wonderful to have gone above and beyond on behalf of Mother Nature’s beloved.

  7. Young deer are called fawns. Fawns are often found alone, because they do not flee from danger until about 14 days of age, and they do not forage with their mother until they are older. To escape detection a fawn lies motionless in tall grass or other cover. Its spotted coat helps it blend into its surroundings by imitating dappled sun on vegetation. A fawn?s lack of scent also helps to protect it from detection by predators.

  8. Great heart warming story. I’m a retired LEO and can’t figure out why the Sgt.
    didn’t help the goose himself but instead called for “BACK UP” What ever, good
    job officers.

  9. That’s amazing
    Thank you police officers
    They might have saved that chicks life by untangling that rope ?

  10. What an amazing story of this mother seeking help for her baby gosling! I’m so glad for the mother & her baby. The interaction between the officer & the bird was so special.

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