Trapped Along the Furrow
A tiny yellow gosling flapped its stubby wings against the damp soil, its belly pinned flat under a strip of black plastic netting.
Its bright orange webbed feet kicked wildly at the wet mud, splashing grey water across the edge of the tulip bed.
A few yards ahead, two adult Canada geese stood in the muddy pathway, their long black necks stretched tall as they looked back over their shoulders.
A pair of tall black rubber boots stopped in the mud directly beside the struggling chick.
A Careful Hands-On Rescue
A young woman wearing thick work gloves knelt down into the soggy dirt, crouching low over the border mesh.
She placed her gloved fingers along the tight plastic grid that held the chick’s downy body against the ground.
The netting was pulled taut, pressing down across the gosling’s back and pinning its wings close to its sides.
With both hands, she gripped the mesh and peeled it upward, working the plastic strands back over the baby’s fluffy feathers.
The gosling let out small chirps as the tension eased from around its neck and shoulders.
She lifted the grid clear over its head and guided the small bird backward through the opening.
Rejoining the Family
The gosling slipped free from the tangled plastic and dropped onto its webbed feet in the shallow puddle below.
It stood upright in the grey slurry, shaking the moisture from its yellow down and tilting its orange beak up toward the sky.
Its dark eyes blinked as it found its footing on the wet soil, testing each leg in the soft mud.
Up ahead, the two adult geese turned their bodies and began walking slowly down the path between the towering rows of bright red blossoms.
The chick dropped its head forward and pushed through the water, paddling its feet in a fast, waddling sprint.
It closed the distance across the puddle, falling in directly behind the two large geese as all three birds continued down the narrow aisle of blooming red tulips into the distance.
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