Canada Goose in Storm Drain: Patient 19-33

A young Canada Goose was brought to us by our local Game Warden. Found in a storm drain in spring 2019, the gosling was rescued but the rest of his family couldn’t be located. So, he was brought to us for care since he couldn’t survive on his own at such a young age. The gosling was in overall great health, remaining active and alert. It didn’t seem like he was stuck in the drain too long.

Family Comes First!

Luckily for the gosling (and us!), wild geese are excellent parents. Not only do geese protect their own young, but they also adopt orphaned goslings and raise them as their own. There is safety in numbers — the larger the family, the higher the overall success rate of the babies.

The search began for a suitable foster family. We needed to find a pair of Canada Geese who had several goslings approximately the same size and age as our little one. We finally found the perfect fit at Gifford Pinchot State Park. The family of geese was right along the water's edge. As Emily approached with the orphaned gosling in hand, the adult geese were both intrigued and wary because of their own goslings to protect.

We sat our lonely orphan on the shore and he evaluated his surroundings. After hearing the honks of the adults, he took off! He started swimming straight toward his new family as fast as his little legs would go. We held our breath. The adult geese and other goslings could potentially reject the new little one. The situation could quickly become dangerous for him, especially out in the water.

Our fears were quickly relieved as one of the adult geese caringly collected our little orphan and brought him into the family. With his new family, he had the greatest joy of growing up wild and free where he belongs.