Duck, Duck, Goose: Heather Farm's Many Geese Attacks
As you walk by the iconic pond at Heather Farms Park, there is a sign stating “Please Do Not Feed Ducks & Geese.” Some may be thinking this is to prevent possible duck and geese attacks but the sign doesn’t state any sort of warning towards an attack. It says things such as “Decreases life expectancy and health” and “Discourages natural and healthy migration habits,” but nothing about attacks.
In the civic center, located behind the sign, a woman who works in the civic center building, stated “The only report of a goose attack was the one in the newspaper.”
She was referring to an article that ABC7 News had come out with about a man named AJ Buttacavoli. He was the one who had reported a goose attack to the Heather Farms staff.
While trying to escape the geese, AJ fell and injured his leg, and was left with a limp.
“I was walking in the park when all of a sudden I noticed three geese following me. I moved faster and so did they,” said Buttacavoli in an email. “I have absolutely no idea why the geese attacked me. It seemed completely unprovoked.”
After the incident he suggested to city hall to “employ a falconer to deal with the problem."
It is surprising to hear of the lack of reports. Even popular tv show, Parks and Recreation, made a reference to an incident like this happening in our very own city of Walnut Creek.
Character Leslie Knope, in season 2 episode 18, said, ”In Walnut Creek, California, they put down a duck that bit a kid. But security footage later revealed that it was actually a goose.”
This statement isn’t too hard to believe when a very similar event happened to freshmen Josh Rosemen.
“I was really young and I really like animals, so at that age I just wanted to pet it, so I ran up to it and it bit me on the thumb,” said Roseman.
There are plenty more occurrences of people who have been attacked, or have been chased at the very least. Sophomore Erica Dungo said, “I got chased by a flock of geese...and another time my mom got bit on the stomach by one."
Alumni Amanda Denison was about 7 years old and was feeding ducks with her grandma when they ran out of food.
“I remember them wanting more...and we would RUN to her car while they CHASED us,” said Denison in a text. “I never remember actually getting a wound, but...the pecking of the car as we drove off was traumatizing enough."
Connor Wygaerts a senior said he gets attacked by a goose “at least once a year when I go fishing there,” said Wygaerts. “I guess I get too close to their babies.”
Geese are particularly aggressive during mating and rearing season, rearing is when they are raising their young. They want to protect their babies so they become slightly more aggressive when they feel threatened. They will also get aggressive when someone walks into their nesting grounds, or for other words, their territory, according to scribol.com.
Senior John Mulligan was attacked at 6 while playing soccer with his friend. “While we were playing, we ran near the water. I remember feeling a sharp pain on my hip, I turned around and see a goose,” said Mulligan.
The denial from Heather Farms of attacks seems contradicting when so many students here at Las Lomas have been in that position themselves.
