Lucky Goose
Animal Stories from All-Creatures.org

[Ed. Note: How brave of someone to shoot a goose with a bow and arrow. Fortunately there were rescuers who were persistent enough to save a life!]

By Robin Lawless on This Dish Is Veg
April 2011

A goose that not only survived being shot by an arrow, but was waddling around a park in Denver, Colorado, with the arrow impaled in him for over a month, has finally been captured by wildlife rescuers and taken to a vet for medical care.

Veterinarian and bird specialist Jerry LaBonde removed the arrow last Thursday at the Homestead Animal Hospital, and put the goose on antibiotics. The goose was kept for observation and released Saturday by members the group that helped to save him, the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center.

Luckily, the arrow did not pierce any of the goose’s vital organs.

The goose was first spotted on February 12, and eluded capture by a various animal organizations trying to trap the goose so the arrow could be removed.

The goose was finally nabbed last Thursday with a with a string foot snare.

Bird rescue volunteer Gabrielle Wimers, who soothed the goose before surgery to have the arrow removed said her group never gave up in trying to help the goose, despite the goose’s unwillingness to cooperate. "He is a very smart goose," she said. "He outsmarted everybody for a month."

It's not known who shot the goose with the arrow.

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