A mother goose hailed a Cincinnati police sergeant by pecking on his car this week, leading to the rescue of her gosling.
"It kept pecking and pecking and normally they don't come near us," Sgt. James Given
told WKRC-TV about the goose. "Then it walked away and then it stopped and looked back so I followed it and it led me right over to the baby that was tangled up in all that string."
The baby was tied up by a Mother's Day balloon, which was among other litter at Mill Creek.
Given's colleague, Specialist Cecilia Charron, went to work untangling the bird after the Hamilton County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals told the officers they could not get a person to the location in a timely manner.
Given said that he decided to record the rescue on his cellphone because the mother goose's communication with humans seemed so unusual.
Once Specialist Charron freed it from the line, the gosling went running toward the lake with the mother.
Video of the rescue, which was posted on Sgt. Given's Facebook page, has gone viral with more than 1.9 million views on YouTube.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service warned in 2015 that balloons and strings are often hazards for animals because they can be mistaken for food, killing them or strangling them. The service website suggests that park visitors should find alternatives to letting balloons go during memorials or celebrations.
The rescue effort proved a winner on Twitter as well, with tennis great Martina Navratilova and others commenting positively.
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