WATCH ABOVE: An Edmonton condo owner got a big surprise recently when a mother goose decided to take up residence on his property. Shallima Maharaj has more.
EDMONTON — A mother goose has made a home for herself on a young Edmonton man’s balcony. Benjamin Lavin made the discovery at his Jasper Avenue condo about 10 days ago.
“The first few days she was there I thought she was just hanging out,” he said. “A few days later I noticed that there was eggs on my tomato planter.”
The Canada goose is protected under federal law, so moving the animal and her eggs was not an option. Lavin lives on the 10th floor of his building, though, and he’s worried about what might happen to the goslings when they hatch. He called the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton for help, and was advised to wait until the goslings are born, then move them down to street level.
“They actually are very mobile right from one or two days of age,” Kim Blomme from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton said of the goslings. “So once they’ve reached that point the female, and the male, is usually around somewhere in the area. The female will usually fly down and start calling to them to try to get them to jump down.
“This is obviously not always safe.”
WATCH: Edmonton firefighters help gaggle of goslings to safety
Concerned that the goslings would hatch when he was away from home, Lavin set up a webcam so he could watch the mother goose from school and work. Little did he know his new friend would garner international attention.
“It’s been crazy. There’s been people from all over the place looking in on it, everyone at work is looking, there’s kids in high school in their classrooms looking at it. Looking at the different traffic that’s coming in, we’re seeing people from Australia, Japan.
“All over the world people are tuning in to watch the goose.”
Right now there are five eggs in Lavin’s tomato planter. He has family and friends lined up to help him once the goslings are born.
“Hopefully once the mother flies down to the street I’ll be able to give her a hand taking the goslings down.”
While geese are comfortable living in the city, the Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton recommends placing a barrier around balcony planters to avoid any unwanted guests.
The goslings should hatch in about two weeks. If you’d like to keep an eye on the goose cam, visit Benjamin Lavin’s blog.
With files from Shallima Maharaj, Global News.
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