Ever been on a wild goose chase?? Well this fellow certainly sent me on one yesterday! I got a call from some concerned people that there was a Canada goose in their yard who appeared to have a broken wing. When ever they tried to get near it though it would waddle into the stream and be beyond reach. So, I packed up the car and went off to take a look.
There was indeed a goose in their yard. The way the wing was drooping it appeared to be a break between the (equivalent to a mammal's) wrist and elbow.
This can be a bad injury and will make flying impossible. However, it can often be repaired either with a wrap or surgery, so it was important to catch this fellow before he damaged it anymore.
So, I confidently walked out to their yard with net and blanket and determination...
But after 30 minutes of running waist deep in water and ice in 25F degree weather and watching him become airborne several times I was able to see that the injury was not as bad as it looked- it appeared to be on the "fingers." Hopefully this should heal good-enough on its own, but it certainly wasn't going to be helped by me scaring the goose frantic; so I let it be. It flew off down stream and I crawled out of the water with no feeling at all in my legs and gratefully accepted a cup of tea!
(NB: I got these lovely photos on Google Images)
