Cell phone cameras are revolutionizing our knowledge of animal behavior.
No longer are we dependent on ethologists to tell us about animals. Every day, ordinary people are discovering that animals display remarkable behaviors that point to their possession of attributes hitherto unknown to us — of:
- Empathy and altruism, as in the cases of a turtle in a Taipei zoo helping another turtle, and a monkey in India reviving its electrocuted friend.
- A high level of intelligence that leads an injured elephant in Africa, shot by poachers, to seek help from humans.
The latest is a mother Canadian goose who has the intelligence to seek help from a police officer for her baby tangled up by the string of a balloon.
Inside Edition reports that on May 8, 2016, a mother goose in Ohio personally sought out the help of the Cincinnati Police Department for one of her goslings tangled in a balloon string.
Cincinnati Police Sergeant James Givens told InsideEdition.com:
“I was sitting in a patrol car in a parking lot, I heard something pecking on the side of the door and I looked down and I thought the goose was hungry. I was eating a bagel and I tossed it a piece but it didn’t have any. It walked in front of me so I followed it and it took me to its baby that was tangled in rope.”
Sergeant Givens called the SPCA Wildlife, which had no one to assist. He then made a call over the radio. Fellow Officer Cecilia Charron responded to the call and arrived to lend a hand.
Givens said:
“I don’t know why I didn’t just drive off and keep going. It [mother goose] kept looking up, it kept quacking, the only thing I can think of, is that I go down there [the river] and drink a cup of coffee sometimes. They never came that close to me in the police car before, I was just amazed how she didn’t attack us. I was a little nervous.”
Givens said:
“It’s weird because it kept the distance and it kept the baby calm. I’ve never seen anything like this before. I said it must be a motherly instinct, the mother didn’t attack her [Officer Charron] or nothing, seeing the thing run off that was the best part.”
Givens filmed the encounter and posted the video on Facebook.
Ironically, the balloon was a Mother’s Day balloon.
Givens, who has served on the force for more than 25 years, is nearing retirement. Charron has been on the force for 24 years and said that was the most memorable moment of her career.
Thank you, Officers Givens and Charron for your kindness!
Let Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac know you appreciate Officers Givens and Charron:
- Email:[email protected]
- Phone: (513) 352-3536
H/t Shireen.
~Ewoyn
