When the Deerings’ were driving home Monday night, they never expected to pick up a foul hitchhiker.
Bill and Debbie Deering were driving down Alderdale Drive near Chisholm Township, when they got behind a car that was driving very slowly around 5:30 on Monday evening.
When it sped up the couple noticed the car had slowed down to see a goose on the side of the road.
“When the car drove away the goose was trying to move and we noticed the goose was wounded or hurt so I said to Bill let’s pull over and see what we can do,” said Debbie Deering.
So, her husband got out of the car to see if he could capture the wounded animal.
“It wasn’t hard, he tried running down the road, but he was only running on one leg and he was flapping his wings at the same time,” said Bill Deering, who figures the goose was suffering from a hunting wound.
“I thought he was going to get airborne but he didn’t and he ended up in a field of long grass and he just couldn’t move then. So when I got up beside him he kind of went into a dead mode and I just picked him up.”
After that, Bill brought the injured goose to the car, and placed the 10-pound bird literally on his wife’s lap.
“The bird was quieter than Deb,” Bill joked.
Deb believes at that point the bird knew they were trying to help.
“He just kind of relaxed in my arms and I was able to pet him and he was in the vehicle with us for a 10 minute ride until we got home,” she said.
The Deerings took the bird back to their 80-acre farm in Chisholm Township, where they will feed the animal and hope it recuperates in the safety of their pond.
“We hope Mother Nature will be able to heal him up,” said Deering.
“We will feed him as we have turkeys and chickens on our farm. As long as he doesn’t look stressed or in tremendous pain, then we will call a veterinarian to find out what we have to do.”
While the Deerings do have a special attachment to the goose, they say their main intent is to help the bird get back to health and hopefully join another flock that will take him in.
“If we can get him enough strength and take off on his own, that would be the optimum thing,” Debbie admitted.
“He should be able to go back to the wild.”
Bill Deering about to release the injured goose into the sanctuary of the pond on their farm.
