When a passing couple saw a lone Canada goose standing in the practice field near Perry High School about 4 p.m. Saturday, they suspected the animal might be sick or injured and reported it to the Perry Police Department.
An officer responded, and a call was made to the office of Dallas County Conservation. Lacking means to catch the wild bird and safely contain it, the officer decided to “keep an eye on it for now” and wait for a call back from the conservation department.
“The thing that’s important with wild fowl is having a plan,” said Abby Benifiel, director of the Humane Society of Perry. “You don’t want to trap a bird and then ask yourself, ‘Now what?’ You need to have a plan in place or the bird will just die of stress. They are very susceptible to stress.”
Benfiel said the Humane Society of Perry has transported birds to Iowa State University for rehabilitation.
The goose was seen still standing alone at 6 p.m. Saturday. By midday Sunday, it was gone. Its whereabouts remain unknown. The season for hunting the Canada goose in Iowa ended Jan. 18.
If not sick or injured, the goose might have been awaiting the return of its mate, who in turn might have been injured or killed. The Canada goose is monogamous. Most couples stay together all of their lives, which normally range from 10 to 24 years.
The writer Joan Didion’s 2005 best-seller, “The Year of Magical Thinking,” contained a passage in which the author reflected on grief in non-human animals that lose mates:
Dolphins, I learned from J. Worden of the Harvard Child Bereavement Study at Massachusetts General Hospital, had been observed refusing to eat after the death of a mate. Geese had been observed reacting to such a death by flying and calling, searching until they themselves became disoriented and lost.
One time I was bitten by a goose and had to undergo rabies shots.
One time I was driving through Area 51 and saw a goose. I put my tin foil cap on.
One time I saw a goose. It was a drake.
One time I saw a Spruce Goose. It was a plane.