Posted on 07/16/2021 4:18:37 AM PDT by MissEdie
BARNSTABLE, Mass. (WPRI) ─ An unexpected visitor at a Massachusetts wildlife hospital Wednesday gave the phrase “through sickness and health” a whole new meaning.
The story begins with a Canada goose named Arnold.
Arnold and his mate, according to Cape Wildlife Center in Barnstable, have lived on a pond near the facility for several years.
But on Tuesday, staff members noticed Arnold began walking with a limp and kept falling over.
After catching him and bringing him inside, the wildlife hospital discovered Arnold had two open fractures on his foot.
“Our best guess is that a snapping turtle or other predator attacked him while swimming,” the hospital wrote, adding that it was apparent Arnold would need surgery to repair the injured foot.
Fast forward to Wednesday. As staff members were preparing Arnold for surgery, the wildlife hospital said they could hear a faint tapping at the clinic door.
“We turned to see that his mate had waddled up onto the porch and was attempting to break into our clinic,” the wildlife hospital wrote. “She had somehow located him and was agitated that she could not get inside.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wbtw.com ...
Sweet.
Love it.
Canada geese, which live to about 25 years of age in the wild, usually find a mate around the age of 3 and will stay with their partners for life, Department of Natural Resources experts say.
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Exceeds human behavior tremendously, but this is not surprising.
We have a bird feeder on the deck.
When it runs out of seed, a magpie walks to the window and taps on it until we come out to refill.
She was feeling....down.
Pun ping alert!
I should have married a goose!
I think geese mate for life.
Another tapping on the door; this time, it was the AFLAC duck.
We also have a bird feeder on our deck.
One day a bluejay stopped by. The feeder had run low enough that he couldn’t reach what food remained, so he got right in front of the window and yakked and screeched up a storm.
As Mark Twain said, no other bird can cuss like a bluejay.
Maybe the mate thought the male was trying to duck out of the relationship!
The dang squirrels and ground squirrels have learned that peanuts are forthcoming when the bluejays start squawking and are poised and ready to grab 'em.
Unfortunately, the bluejays squawk a good game, but they are big chickens against those ground squirrels.
I need another feeder type :(
I noticed the story used the pronoun “HE” for the male, and “SHE” for the female. Shhhh. Maybe no one will notice! A pair is composed of a male and a female. There is no “trans” in nature! Nobody uses made-up pronouns for geese!
She was a comforter, that’s for sure.
That was a very fowl statement to make.
Would you rather eider not said it?
Hey! Save your wisequacks for someone else! :)
Sweet story.
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