Found a little buddy on the water yesterday...

I was working my usual spot in downtown Thursday morning and it was reeeaaaaally slow.  I had one drive-by that didn't stick but other than that there wasn't anything going on.  The weather was getting crummy with black clouds heading my way and wind that had been building all morning.  I started heading in but I kept my line out while I was cruising from the east side of the river to the west side where my take-out spot is so I was moving across the river at a nice easy pace. 

When I was about in the middle of the river I started hearing a soft "Peep, peep, peep..." I look up past my port side and see this little baby goose hauling ass trying to get to my kayak.  He came around behind me and scooted up to my starboard side and looked like he really wanted a ride.  The wind was kicking its little butt and I don't think it was too excited about the approaching rain.  It had clearly been separated by its family but I felt pretty helpless since I had no idea where to look or how long it would take to find its family.  So I pedaled around to the spots that I normally see goose families this time of year. 

I first went to Tom McCall Waterfront Park since there are usually tons of geese there but for some weird reason they weren't there.  While I was pulling up on shore there I ended up breaking the RAM ball track mount for my handheld GPS and it plopped into about 4 feet of water.  Perfect.  I ended up getting it back later after going back to the house and grabbing my wetsuit and snorkel mask after this whole baby goose thing was over. 

I then headed over to the paddle craft dock on the east side of the river.  I had seen a family there earlier that morning and I figured there was a chance they might still be there.  Sure enough, they were up above the dock on the grass, hanging out in the sun with a few other pairs of geese.  I wasn't sure if they were his real family, in fact, they probably weren't given where I found it and the wind direction at the time, but I figured it was probably the best that I could do for the little fella.  I ran back down to the kayak and grabbed the now soaked and shivering baby goose out of my cup holder and tossed it onto my rain hat in an attempt to handle it as little as possible.  I put it on the grass(a little roughly actually) in the sun near the geese so they could see it and I quickly backed away.  The geese approached it but didn't seem too eager to take care of it at that moment.  Since I was already REALLY late in getting off the water.  I wanted to help more but at the same time I knew I needed to interfere as little as possible.  I really hope that those geese take care of it but I can say for sure that I left it in a better situation than when I found it.

Just after I plucked it out of the river.  Probably should have put my bait knife away, huh?


It found my cup holder and seemed pretty content for a while since it was out of the wind and rain.


When it was sitting in my cup holder it got pretty soaked though and ended up getting really cold so that probably wasn't the best spot for it.


Video!

Changing your name from Rawkfish to Father Goose! (A good Carey Grant flick by that name BTW.) I would of taken him home by December you would of had a nice X-mas goose. Good on you for trying and I'm glad you got your GPS back.

I had a similar encounter with a baby goose during a kayak trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River.  The river was at 8.5 feet, which is really roaring.  It was the highest the river had been in 10 years, and it was full of floating logs.  We were sitting around camp the second night, and a baby goose showed up.  It was the same size as the one which Rawkfish encountered.  It kept running around us calling "peep-peep-peep!  Peep-peep-peep!"  Clearly it had gotten separated from its parents by the high water.  Then it ran over to me and cuddled up under my leg, and started making little purring noises.  We started holding it and feeding it, and it would purr.  That night one of the guys on the trip, Seth, brought it into his tent and put it inside his sleeping bag to keep warm.  It turned out it wasn't toilet trained, so he set it in one of his shoes for the night.  It didn't like that as much as being in his sleeping bag, but it was warmer in the tent than outside.  We kept feeding it the next morning.  Then we packed up up camp, loaded our kayaks, and paddled out into the surging eddy.  The gosling paddled desperately after us, calling "peep-peep-peep!  Peep-peep-peep!"  We waited for a gap in the logs, hit the current, and disappeared downstream at about 15 mph.  I'm sure the gosling was eaten and/or dead before the day was over.  I have pictures of the gosling, but they're slides, not digital.

Seth was a pretty sensitive guy, despite having been to two Olympic Games as a ski jumper.  A couple weeks later, I encountered Seth.  He came over to me with an anguished look on his face and asked me, "Do you still think about that gosling?"  Clearly he did.

Another Seth story:  We were barreling along a dirt road on the way to go kayaking.  A gopher darted out from the side of the road and got schmucked by the vehicle.  Seth cried out, "Slow down!  It's just not worth it!"  Years later, I still hear friends quoting Seth when we have some kind of automotive close call.  "Slow down!  It's just not worth it!"  Everybody cackles with amusement, remembering the moment.

Nice rescue of that little peeping fluff ball, you gave the little guy a fighting chance for sure.

I heard that those little puffballs make great sturgeon bait! The fluffier the better.
Just kidding- good job on the rescue. It is amazing how cute those little critters are before they grow up and start hissing and crapping all over the place. That little fellow in the cup-holder really won my heart over to the old Canada goose.

Drew Gregory would not likely have been so compassionate. Good story and great pics.

Outstanding!

It was adorable how you held your hand over it's head to protect it from the rain.  Such caring and nurturing concern...coming from a salmon killer. 

Awesome job Rawkfish!!

Sometimes you just gotta help out a fellow paddler in need!!
 

That is a great story Jeff! good for you for showing compassion for the little guy. You gave him a fighting chance. I wonder if that flock took him/her in?

You will be forever now be known as the "Goose Whisperer"

 

Nice story...

Thanks for the changes mods.  I'm diggin my new neighborhood.   

Nice job Jeff. Way to look out for the little fella. Things like that can make your day more than actually catching fish..imo

Karma points for sure!