7 grounded geese hitch ride south from Ottawa
'I wouldn't have known they were there minus the smell'
They're known to fly south for the winter, but broken wings and injured legs — and in one case a pellet gun wound — had grounded seven Canada geese at Ottawa's Wild Bird Care Centre.
CBC Ottawa's Joanne Steventon answered the call to chauffeur all the birds south — on an eight-hour road trip in a single SUV — to a bird sanctuary near Windsor Ont., equipped to help them heal over the cold months.
Three of the birds had their own kennel, while the rest were split up in pairs during the ride.
"It was full — we couldn't have fit any more geese in here," she told CBC Radio's All In A Day after the trip to the Jack Miner Bird Sanctuary in Kingsville, Ont., on Wednesday. "It doesn't smell very good in here right now."
Aside from the odour, Steventon said the geese were well-behaved, and surprisingly quiet, companions on the road.
"I wouldn't have known they were there minus the smell," she said.
"I was expecting more honking but there was more hissing," she said. "I guess when they're uncomfortable they make a hissing sound."
The geese, who travelled with blankets covering their kennels, were released at the sanctuary on Wednesday afternoon, at a fenced-in pond area.
The birds are expected to be re-released into the wild once they're healed.
"I wasn't sad to say goodbye. We maintained healthy boundaries for the trip. I thought I would get a bit more attached," she said. "They are where they need to be now."
In the end, it was rewarding, she said.
"I do love a good road trip. I also love birds," she said. "I'd do it again."