Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

GLIDING THROUGH LIFE

Friends flock to flightless Maine goose

Its broken wing raises concern for the bird, but it seems to be a survivor.

By David Hench dhench@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

WESTBROOK — For a goose with a badly broken wing, life could be worse.

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A Canada goose with a broken wing and its companion, a white goose, join other waterfowl in the Presumpscot River at Riverside Park in Westbrook on Monday.

Photos by Tim Greenway/Staff Photographer

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Westbrook's resident Canada goose paddles with its white goose sidekick near Riverside Park.

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The Canada goose that has taken up residence in the city's Riverbank Park area can't fly, but it's got food, a companion and lots of concerned fans.

"We received an awful lot of complaints from people thinking we haven't been helpful or sympathetic to the plight of the goose," said Westbrook police Capt. Tom Roth.

In fact, he said, police checked with the city's animal control officer, Phil Hebert, and an animal expert, David Sparks, and determined that any attempt to net the bird and treat the wing could do more harm than good, because of the stress of the ordeal and the potential for additional injury.

The goose appears to be doing just fine, hanging out with a white goose that looks good enough for many onlookers to confuse it with a swan. Police initially said the white fowl was a swan that had lost its mate – a touching story, but a bit of a stretch.

As it is, the two geese are together most of the time.

The injured goose has prospered in the months since it appeared this spring. On the park's riverbanks along the Presumpscot River, elderly residents and parents with children toss pieces of bread and potato chips to ducks, seagulls and the pair of geese, even though officials advise against feeding wild waterfowl.

"They're always together. I'm pretty sure the swan stays here all year round," said Jasmine Hicks, who visited the park Monday with her husband and her young daughter.

"I figured it would die in the winter if nobody did anything about it," her husband, Dana Hicks, said of the injured goose.

Also fearful of the coming cold was Millie Hanson of Hollis, who was in Westbrook visiting a friend when she stopped by to feed chunks of hamburger roll to the geese and ducks (though much of the food got scarfed by noisy seagulls).

"I think it's great he's got somewhere to come and get fed, but I wonder where he's going to go this winter," she said.

Authorities say many mallards and black ducks linger in that stretch of the Presumpscot throughout the winter. The river doesn't freeze, and the birds can forage, so the injured goose should make it as long as it doesn't fall prey to a predator.

The goose isn't timid. Some people said it has marched up the bank and honked at them as they sat in their cars.

Roth, the police captain, said the goose isn't the only animal police are watching as fall arrives.

Officers are also getting calls about a young, playful fox that lacks the usual fear of people. The kit showed up at Westbrook High School, then moved to Terminal Way, near a day care center, said Roth.

The fox shows no sign of illness and probably just left the litter a little early, he said. The animal control officer plans to capture and relocate the animal.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at: dhench@pressherald.com