Raptor Trust worker Kristi Ward carries a Canada goose
under her arm wrapped in a towel in Millington, N.J. The goose was
released back into the wild after rehabilitation from an arrow
wound.
MILLINGTON, New Jersey - A Canada goose with a hunter's
26-inch (66-centimeter) arrow sticking out of its chest picked the
right place to land.
"This is a smart goose," said Bernard Levine, the
retired veterinarian in whose Toms River, New Jersey, backyard the
wounded bird showed up a few weeks ago. "He happened to come into
the yard of a veterinarian that could take care of him."
So Levine, 82, fed the goose, helped capture it,
performed lifesaving surgery and transported it to the state's
largest bird rehabilitation facility, The Raptor Trust.
All patched up after a three-week stay at The Raptor
Trust, the goose was released last week into a stream in a wooded
area on the trust's property with Levine witnessing the payoff for
his kindness.
"It feels great to see him free and liberated, enjoying
life the way a goose should," Levine said, as the goose preened and
waded downstream.
Levine, working at the Toms River Animal Hospital he
founded in 1955, removed 6 inches (15 centimeters)of the arrow
lodged in the bird's flesh, as well as several pellets from an air
rifle. Levine said he hunted ducks and geese 30 years ago but a
change of heart also changed his mind about the sport.
"With the encroaching civilization and the loss of a
lot of habitat, these birds are pressed for survival," Levine said.
"I'd rather not shoot and kill them. I'd rather feed them and
sponsor their lives."
The goose, which weighed 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms)
after rescue, weighed 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) at its last
weigh-in before it was released. Raptor Trust veterinary technician
Kristi Ward said the sex and age of the bird were not
determined.
New Jersey wildlife management regulations don't permit
hunting waterfowl with arrows like the one removed from the
goose.