After Being Kidnapped By A Fox, A Loyal Goose Returns Home

Steve and his sister Lulu were adopted by the Shymko family nine years ago and settled in quickly. “We just placed them in with the hens at first, thinking they’d just be birds in the back,” Steve’s mother, Carla Shymko, told The Dodo. “However, the more time we spent with them, the more we discovered how much fun they were — especially Steve.”

Steve instantly became enamored with Shymko and began following her wherever she went. “He’d always be there alongside me if I was in the yard,” Shymko added. “He and Lulu would sleep right next to our huge dogs and be the first to greet visitors when they arrived.”

Last month, though, Shymko discovered some white feathers on the ground while checking on her kids in the yard. Steve had vanished, and the family scoured the region around their Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, home.

Shymko decided to post on Facebook in the hopes of alerting her neighbors. “At first, I was a little hesitant,” Shymko said. “I was afraid people would think I was insane for seeking for a goose.”

“I ended up putting something on Moose Jaw Lost And Found Pets and a number of other pages and honestly, within an hour, I got hundreds of responses,” she said. “The nicest individuals contacted me,” Shymko remarked. “People offered to go looking for him in their cars.”

But later that day, Shymko learnt that a neighbor had spotted a fox coming down the road with a white goose in her teeth. “We were heartbroken,” Shymko explained. “The notion of him being gravely harmed and suffering was really heartbreaking for us.” We were devastated since he was such an important part of our family.”

Shymko’s spouse awoke the next morning to a tapping sound coming from their door. When he went to investigate, he couldn’t believe what he saw: “Steve was waiting for me at our back sliding doors, where he normally waited for me when I came in the home,” Shymko said. “[Steve] was weak and laying down… softly pecking on the glass to let us know he had arrived.”

Steve was definitely fatigued after traveling such a great distance to see his family. When the goose saw his mother again, he couldn’t contain his pleasure and ran directly into her arms.

“He was really weak and afraid for the first week he came back,” Shymko added. “We took things slowly at first, but he’s doing well now, and as soon as he hears us in the morning, he’s back to announcing Steve’s return to the entire surrounding region.”