kayak

What do you do if you are trying to catch a Greylag goose that has been shot and, understandably, doesn’t want to go near people?

Poole Park Greylag Goose Project had been trying to catch the goose for days, but when they got close, he hopped back onto the fishing lake and swam away. After being shot in the wing, he was unable to fly, things were not looking good for him.

Solution, get a group of ducks, or DUCKS. We were asked if we could help. So on Sunday morning we had a chance to perfect our goose herding skills. Some parts were easy, we met with Heidi and she explained what she needed. Drive the goose calmly to her and she would pluck him from the water, load him into her car and whisk him off to the wildlife hospital. Sounded simple, so off we went.

Three things quickly became clear. Firstly we didn’t really know what a greylag looks like. It has an orange beak really needed us to be close enough to see the beak! Secondly, they are the colour of the reeds, so spotting the bird against a reed background was not easy. Finally, they can swim fast!

Luck was on our side and with a bit of shouting and pointing we were directed towards him and found him near the bank. Not the bank with the recovery team, that would have been too easy. But having found him it was a simple matter of keeping an eye on him and holding him still until the team arrived.

Unfortunately, no one had told the goose that we needed him to stay still. He walked up the bank and vanished.

We looked for him for quite some time. Searching the reeds, both lakes and the trees. It was about now he was named Gary the Goose.

Gary by this time was identifying as a Canadian and hiding with a group of geese on lake 2. Starting from the far bank, we crossed the lake hoping to keep him in the corner near the slipway where he was swimming. Approaching the mini flock caused the canadians to fly away, but Gary was left in the water. We made several attempts to herd him to the bank, but he was quite the slippery character. After repeated attempts and some very agile swimming, a tired Gary was guided towards the reeds, getting close enough to Heidi so that she could catch him.

Fun facts.
When swimming quickly a greylag lowers its head to the water and almost disappears.
Even with a gunshot to the wing, a Greylag can dive and swim underwater for over 10 metres.

While we wanted to be the heroes of this situation, I think that honour must go to Heidi. Diving after Gary she filled her waders with cold January lake water. When he was close enough, nothing was going to stop her catching him!

Gary is now in the wildlife hospital as Gary the Goose, or #465. He’s booked in for surgery and we wish him well.