Canada goose follows Alberta forester's truck to water

An Alberta man captured his own private Fly Away Home experience on Tuesday when he used his truck to lead a lost Canada goose to water.

Forester Andre Bachman was driving his pickup along a country road near Edson, Alta., west of Edmonton, when he saw the goose flying overhead in the opposite direction.

Then, he noticed the bird turn and follow his truck.

Curious about the goose's behaviour, Bachman stopped and the goose landed right behind his truck.

Bachman got out of the cab to have a little chat with the goose, asking, "Are you lost? What are you doing here?"

For its part, the goose did not seem frightened of Bachman, and cheeped back an answer.

Given how comfortable the goose was with him, Bachman thinks it may have been raised by humans.

Since the bird showed no inclination to fly away, Bachman decided to try leading it to water, and started driving to Shining Bank Lake, about 10 kilometres away.

According to Bachman, the goose had no trouble keeping up with him, even at 50 km/h. Curious to see how fast the goose could fly, Bachman sped up to 80 km/h — at which point the goose slid behind the truck so it could flap in its draft.

When they reached the lake, Bachman continued to shoot video as the bird went for a swim. Bachman then left him on the shore of the lake.

He said he's travelled through the area many times, but has never run into the friendly goose before.

Bachman posted the video of his goose encounter to YouTube on Wednesday. Since then, it's been watched more than 90,000 times.