Officials at the New Canaan Field Club are trying to secure a female goose in that small front pond there long enough to undo a fishing line now caught around its leg, causing the bird to limp and threatening serious physical damage.
The club’s secretary, Karen Stewart, said she spotted the familiar goose limping badly Monday and immediately took steps to figure out how to help. She and club Manager Tom Brown contacted the New Canaan Police Department Animal Control unit.
Officer Maryann Kleinschmitt said geese are visual and if they don’t recognize someone (like her) then they stay away. So, she left a net behind with Brown to try and catch the bird.
“We’ve got to catch her,” Brown said Tuesday afternoon by the pond’s edge, the injured goose limping about 10 yards away. “But as soon as you get near, she takes off. She flies. She can still fly.”
But the line could cause a circulation problem and ultimately cost the goose her leg or worse, Kleinschmitt said.
The fishing line she’s tangled in likely is from a recent fishing derby at the club, Stewart said.
There are three geese at the pond altogether—a couple (geese mate for life, except in rare cases, for example, if a partner dies) and the third, injured goose, a small female.
Netting the bird will be a multi-person job because the other two likely will try and protect her—which is typical Canada goose behavior, Kleinschmitt said.
“She looks like she lost her mate,” Kleinschmitt said.
Stewart and Brown said the three geese have been regular visitors to the club’s pond for years. They arrived a few days ago after a larger flock of about 11 birds left, they said.