Rescued Canada goose is recovering
Honk, a Canada goose, is recovering at the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center in Hampton Bays thanks to two Shelter Island Good Samaritans — and no thanks to people who passed the scene of an accident and made no effort to stop and offer assistance.
Carrie and Bob Hall of Silver Beach were en route home on January 20 about 6 p.m. when they passed the goose they have since named Honk struggling on West Neck Road in front of Cackle Hill Farm. The goose had clearly been struck by a driver who Ms. Hall believes had to have realized that he or she had hit something but failed to stop and assess the situation.
“I saw it move and said that animal is alive,” Ms. Hall said. The Halls pulled over in their vehicle and Mr. Hall gradually was able to guide the injured goose to the side of the road.
“He kept plopping his head down on the side of the road,” Mr. Hall said.
The Halls didn’t know about the wildlife rescue center, so their first call went to Geo Jo Video, where proprietor Joanne Kresak is known for her love of birds. Ms. Kresak referred the couple to Pat Bastible, who she believed knew about the center. Sure enough, Mr. Bastible rapidly arrived on the scene and transported the injured bird to the wildlife rescue center.
But what bothered Ms. Hall is that, during the time she and her husband were at the scene, three vehicles and one bicyclist passed them with no one stopping to offer help. That’s unusual on the Island, Ms. Hall said, explaining that one of the special aspects of living here is the way people usually reach out to help one another.
“It’s one of God’s creatures,” she said about Honk.
“You would do it for a family member,” Mr. Hall said about why he and his wife stopped. The two are animal lovers who share their house with two rescue cats.
Honk was assessed at the rescue center as having serious head trauma and substantial damage to his chest cavity, Ms. Hall said. She visited the center soon after the rescue and Honk wasn’t eating but was being given antibiotics, nutrition and fluids through an intravenous line.
Within six days of his rescue, he was eating on his own and the IV had been removed, she said. In recent days, he has been making an effort to get up and move around but was very unsteady on his feet. He temporarily slipped back and had to be put on the IV line again because he wasn’t eating but is now showing steady progress, Ms. Hall said.
It will likely be a long time before Honk is ready to rejoin his flock. But because geese mate for life, she’s determined to have him released in a pond area near where he was found and where there are other Canada geese. She believes his mate may be there.
She also hopes the work the Evelyn Alexander Wildlife Rescue Center performs will be rewarded because the organization is a nonprofit entity that depends on contributions.
The center is staffed by five wildlife technicians, a licensed veterinarian and two administrative employees and maintains a 24-hour hotline at 728-9453, according to information provided by Richard Greening, a spokesman for the center. The annual operating budget is $350,000, most of which comes from individual contributions, according to the center’s website. To make a contribution, visit their website at wildliferescuecenter.org.
