Home is where your nest is, even on a busy road
It’s a busy section of Fanshawe Park Road, between Highbury Avenue and Adelaide Street, at first glance cars going by might not even notice, but truck driver Nathan Watson did during his route.
“Earlier this week I was driving back to the yard and I noticed the Dame right here, just standing there and it kind of startled me,” Watson explained.
The Dame, is a mother goose, who has chosen a concrete planter in the middle of the road as her nest.
Brian Salt from Salthaven Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Centre said while it seems like an odd place for a nest, there is a logistical plan with this placing.
“When building their nest in a high traffic area like that, they set up a barrier to their natural predators,” he said.
Watson, among others is concerned about the mother goose and goslings that are still protectively under her.
“First thing that came to mind was, you know, if she's parked up a bed here, she can get hit by cars. It could be a car accident caused multiple accidents,” said Watson.
A mother goose has some worried about the placement of her nest along Fanshawe Park Road, between Highbury Avenue and Adelaide Street in London, Ont. pictured on Thursday, May 18, 2022. (Marek Sutherland/CTV News London)
While it’s a natural reaction to want to help, Salt says there are many reasons why you should leave the nest and the Geese alone
“The materialistic us says ‘there's something wrong with this picture.’ But in actual fact, the geese are seeing it from a whole different perspective and are much more knowledgeable above all of this,” he said.
Watson just wants drivers on Fanshawe Park Road, between Trossacks Avenue and Glenora Drive to slow down and keep an eye out for the young family as they will soon be taking their first steps.
Salt believes mother goose has been researching over the last month while sitting on that nest, and will know when it is time to cross the road.
“They know the traffic pattern,” he said. “So oftentimes, they'll move those little goslings in the cover of night so that the traffic isn't quite as great. They just seem to know, you know. “They're very, very smart that way.”
A couple of goslings were visibly moving around when mom shifted her seat on Thursday morning, meaning they will likely start to move around within a day or so.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Police investigating shooting outside of Drake's Bridle Path mansion: source
Toronto police are investigating a shooting that took place outside of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion early Tuesday morning, a source tells CP24.
Canadian cadets rock mullets and place second at U.S. military competition
Sporting mullets, Canadian Armed Forces officer cadets placed second in an annual military skills competition in the U.S.
'It looked so legit': Ontario man pays $7,700 for luxury villa found on Booking.com, but the listing was fake
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
The Met Gala was in full bloom with Zendaya, Jennifer Lopez, Mindy Kaling among the standout stars
The Met Gala and its fashionista A-listers on Monday included Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya and a parade of others in a swirl of flora and fauna looks on a green-tinged carpet lined by live foliage.
There's actually no such thing as vegetables. Here's why you should eat them anyway
The rumours are true: Vegetables aren't real — that is, in botany, anyway. While the term fruit is recognized botanically as anything that contains a seed or seeds, vegetable is actually a broad umbrella term.
Noelia Voigt resigns as Miss USA, citing her mental health
Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA in November 2023, has announced she is resigning from her role, saying the decision is in the best interest of her mental health.
Highlights from the 2024 Met Gala exhibit: Sleeping Beauty would wake up for these gowns
Sure, she was a royal princess and all. But there’s no way Sleeping Beauty — either before or after her nap — ever had quite the fabulous wardrobe that’s been assembled at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Stormy Daniels is expected to appear at Trump's hush money trial on Tuesday
Donald Trump returns to the hush money trial Tuesday facing a threat of jail time for additional gag order violations as prosecutors gear up to summon big-name witnesses including porn actor Stormy Daniels.
Israeli forces seize Rafah border crossing in Gaza, putting ceasefire talks on knife's edge
Israeli tanks seized control of Gaza's vital Rafah border crossing on Tuesday as Israel brushed off urgent warnings from close allies and moved into the southern city even as cease-fire negotiations with Hamas remained on a knife's edge.