The feathery residents of Sullivan’s Pond have left their summer home and, after a municipal tender process, are wintering at their usual accommodations.
The municipality issued a tender seeking winter refuge for the geese earlier this month. Hope for Wildlife, the Seaforth, N.S. animal rescue that’s cared for the geese for years, won the contract to continue its services, municipal spokesperson Erin DiCarlo said in an email Friday. There was one other unnamed bidder.
The municipality will pay Hope for Wildlife $10,800 for a three-year term. That price is inclusive of “round-up, capture and transport” of the geese; food and water for eight to 12 geese from Nov. 20 to April 20; a report before returning the geese to the pond outlining “any outstanding health or behavioral issues;” and transport of the geese back to the pond.
DiCarlo said Hope for Wildlife rounded up the geese on Tuesday. But Doug Carleton, a street artist and amateur road safety engineer who documents the geese on a YouTube channel, Sullivan’s Goose, confirmed they were picked up Wednesday morning.
The geese, including a gosling born in the summer, will join one of their former pond-mates in Seaforth. That goose was removed from the pond and taken to Hope for Wildlife due to behavioural issues — namely, “exhibiting aggressive behaviour when park users got too close” — in May.
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