GALLERY: Family of geese to go home
SOPHIATOWN – Residents rescue a family of geese in Sophiatown.
The Van der Berg family took in a family of stray geese when they saw them wandering on the road on Ray Street in Sophiatown on 20 September. Margie van der Berg heard the neighbour’s dogs barking loudly when she decided to investigate what all the commotion was about. “I discovered nine little geese and two adults wandering the streets. The road [Ray Street, about 1.5km from Westdene Dam] was very busy and I was concerned the geese may get run over by motorists,” she said
In an attempt to keep them out of harms way the family collected the 11 geese and kept them in their backyard until they could get assistance to free them. Johannesburg SPCA was contacted on 28 September, but before they could assist a good Samaritan decided to intervene and offer the family assistance with the geese on 30 September and 1 October.
The man who requested not to be named is a Westdene resident who often assists with birds at the Westdene Dam that are injured. “I received a general broadcast WhatsApp from the Westdene Resident’s Association about a family of stray geese that were taken in by the Van der Berg family. I decided to offer them assistance with getting the geese in their natural environment,” he said.
Douw van der Berg said that the helpful man only managed to capture six of the geese on 30 September. “The geese are difficult to capture but the good samaritan managed to capture the geese with his net,” he said.
The remaining five geese were captured on 1 October and taken to FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation, who will release the geese into Westdene Dam. The Van der Berg’s said that they are glad that they received assistance with the geese and that it was lovely having them around.
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