A dozen Canada geese are causing quite the stir in Fredericton, creating traffic snarls and routinely making a mess all over roads and sidewalks.
The gaggle shows up around this time every year.
“Crossing the street, it’s funny to see over by Winners, the geese will actually stop the traffic on Knowledge Park Drive,” says resident David McConchie. “It’s quite interesting, how powerful these little creatures are.”
The geese are oblivious, and unconcerned about their surroundings. The gaggle is now seasonal residents of Fredericton’s Knowledge Park.
“They were at the far end of the parking lot, and as you started to cross, just to walk to get your car, the adults would often get separated from the young ones,” says resident Liz Mills. “Everyone would have to stop so that the whole flock could cross together, they’re like traffic blocks.”
“We’re sitting at the picnic table eating lunch and they just wander around and just let us watch them,” says resident Alex Stack Mills.
Staff at the forestry centre wanted to make sure drivers knew to expect them, so they put up a sign.
If drivers aren’t stopped by them, or they don’t hear them, they will certainly see what they leave behind.
“The big thing you have to watch for is the trail of poop they leave behind them,” says Mills. “It is everywhere right? It’s not little piles of bird dirt; it’s like the equivalent of a small dog, truly!”
The two dozen or so geese really have made Fredericton their home for the time being, adapting well to the bustling, busy life of the many humans around them.
“People seem to enjoy the geese, so it’s not a nuisance I guess, at the end of the day,” says McConchie.
Canadians are known to be polite, so employees will continue stopping, to allow the namesake bird to cross the road, if only so they can get to the other side.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown
