POLICE – Gosling rescued from woman’s pocket is now recovering at farm

A baby gosling is safely recovering, thanks to a police officer with a family farm and experience raising waterfowl.

Lovingly named ‘Little Jerry’, the Kamloops gosling was rescued after police were recently called to a local shelter for a report of a woman who had brought it back to her room and refused to let it free. Taking a gosling is in contravention to the Migratory Birds Act.

When officers attended the room, the woman denied having the gosling, said RCMP Const. Crystal Evelyn. Although police could not see the bird, its chirps led officers to its location, inside the woman’s pocket.

After consulting with the Conservation Officers Service (COS), police attempted to return the gosling to the beach it had been taken from, but no other geese were present.

“The responding officer was worried it would be killed if he just left it there, so I said I’d take it home to my farm,” said Kamloops RCMP Const. Richard Christy.

“I have a safe place with some chickens, ducks, and a pond.”

Const. Christy discussed his plan with the COS before bringing the gosling home for rehabilitation and eventual re-entry into the wild. Although Christy will be helping the bird grow strong enough to fend for itself, it is not a pet and requires a proper environment and food to survive.

He reminded anyone who comes across an animal they believe to be abandoned not to touch it and to contact the COS before interfering with wildlife.